I think it's been interesting to see the free software crowd moaning about the lack of support for iPlayer on Linux. Sadly given the DRM rights requirements of broadcasters which in the BBCs case are forced on them by both the content producers and the repeat fees for talent we aren't likely to ever see content which doesn't require DRM. I have spoken to senior BBC folks about this and their view is that currently content without DRM is a non starter much as some of them would like to it happen.
The current state of play is that beeb saying that there will eventually be a version of iPlayer for Linux but that for the next year or so it will be Windows and Mac only. The w3c.org website stats at http://www.w3counter.com/globalstats.php?date=2007-08-30 only show Linux having a 1.34% share of the browser market so the beeb are going at this in the right order.
This means that potentially one of the more interesting bits of the moonlight annoucements is in Miguel de Icazas blog where he talks about codecs and where he says that Microsoft are going to be supplying binary codecs for Moonlight.
Sounds to me like this is a means to deliver the iPlayer on Linux for the BBC without having to get too entangled with the GPL if you're Microsoft and the GPL certainly isn't friendly to DRM.
So the somewhat lame responses the BBC trust are giving back to the online petitions are both understandable and correct.
