While looking for some background on the BBC’s release of their archives to file-sharing, I came across another interesting iniative they are planning. In the works is a box which would sit on top of the TV sets of all Britons and turn their television into a device for navigating and accessing all of the BBC’s content all of the time. Including last Monday’s Eastenders episode which you missed because you had to go the laundry, and the entire 1983 season of Dr. Who. And, possibly, all of the Goon Show radio episodes.

Geek folk everywhere were already impressed that such a creaking old public institution as the BBC would be the first big entity to wake up to the distribution possibilities of the peer-to-peer filesharing. This new iniative is potentially an even bigger step forward. Together, these plans go a long way in demonstrating the power of publicly-owned entertainment. You probably couldn’t get away with such a plan if you were trying to give people access to privately-copyrighted material. The job of getting permission from all of the dead and forgotten owners would be enormous, and there would be endless licensing fee issues and who knows what. Maybe it could be done, but the work involved would probably overwhelm any institution, including the big networks, who tried to take it on. But the BBC can just – poof – release any material they can get out the door because it’s all public domain.

When you dump the silly profit motive it gives you a lot of flexibility.

Of course, there are problems brewing with the project. I sure hope it succeeds so I can lord it over the small-government marketplace capitalists till I’m giddy.