If Google TV Has To Pay To Make Hulu Available To Viewers, Will Mozilla Have To Pay To Access Hulu Via Firefox?

from the yeah,-that'll-work dept

Fri, Oct 22nd 2010 8:29am — Mike Masnick

Ah, Hulu. The online TV streaming service has been leading a life of contradiction from day one. It's been trying to build a service that can successfully "compete with free," while being owned by the TV companies, who are scared to death of cannibalizing their own business. We've discussed in the past how this puts Hulu in an impossible position. The fact that it regularly has to have its engineers block access to any device or software that surfs the web over a TV is just one ridiculous example. Danny Sullivan perhaps sums it up best in his review of Google TV, after discovering that Hulu is (of course) blocking access to anyone using Google TV:

Hey Hulu -- you kind of suck. I'm not trying to access you from Google TV. I'm trying to access you using a web browser, which just happens to run through Google TV. Explain to me again why if I hook my computer up to my TV, and navigate to Hulu to watch the shows you offer for free, that's OK. But if I use my Google TV computer, that same free content is verboten -- and the only way for me to get to it is if in the future, you decide to make the free content available through your not-so-free $10 per month Hulu Plus service that's not even available beyond special invites on your own site.

Here's a thought. Enough of blocking Google TV and apparently other services like Boxee. Either block EVERYONE on the web or block no one, because in the end, you turn people who love you when they reach you on their computers (like me) into people who hate you when they're blocked in other places (like me).

Admittedly, Hulu is apparently getting pressure from the TV companies to do these blocks, but it still makes no sense. All things like Boxee and Google TV are doing is providing a browser. As Danny notes, if I just hooked up my laptop to the same TV, I could watch Hulu just fine. Why is it a problem if it's using a different piece of hardware? It makes no sense.

Of course, Google is now negotiating with the networks to "allow" their content to be viewed on Google TV. Is it just me or is this extremely troubling? How would people react if, say, the New York Times suddenly announced that it would not be viewable on Dell computers or in Firefox, unless Dell or Mozilla paid up? People would go nuts. Yet, that's exactly what is happening here.

In the meantime, we've already covered Hulu's ridiculous paywall plans, which even the company admits completely suck. Rumors are now spreading that so few people are interested in getting pretty much nothing for $10/month, that Hulu is now planning to cut the fee in half. Of course, if they're blocking access to random browsers for whatever ridiculous reason (and still not going ad free), then why would anyone pay?

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Filed Under: blocks, browsers, google tv, internet, tv
Companies: google, hulu

22 Comments

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robphelan (profile), 22 Oct 2010 @ 8:52am

I just don't understand why the TV companies aren't paying attention.

I think the vast majority of Hulu users wouldn't mind paying $5-10/month if we felt we were getting something in return - Easily accessible, No commercials, longer retention period of shows, access from ANY device, etc....

They're shooting themselves in the foot with these ridiculous restrictions. They need someone with vision who will actually listen to what consumers want.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2010 @ 8:59am

Are the paying so the browser on Google TV may access Hulu, or so they can streamline Hulu in as an app on the device? It seems that would make quite the difference.
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Khyle, 22 Oct 2010 @ 9:01am

Ugh
Paying $5 for a crappy service instead of $10 won't bring in more customers. Making it suck less will. I really don't understand the logic of charging people money for a service then intentionally trying to block people from various devices.

Netflix does everything they can to push their content everywhere. By the time the networks let Hulu do the same, it'll be too late. They're really pissing away a great opportunity.
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Hephaestus (profile), 22 Oct 2010 @ 9:05am

Re:
"They're shooting themselves in the foot with these ridiculous restrictions."

Yeah they are pretty much boned...
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2010 @ 9:43am

The funny part is that if you spoof the header it plays ok.
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Stephen, 22 Oct 2010 @ 9:44am

torrent of nonsense
Just download the shows. It's even easier than getting them on-demand.
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The Infamous Joe (profile), 22 Oct 2010 @ 9:54am

Re: torrent of nonsense
Many bit torrent clients have the ability to download automatically from rss feeds. Download to a dropbox folder for everywhere access, use VLC for everywhere streaming.

Technology is fun.
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ComputerAddict (profile), 22 Oct 2010 @ 10:12am

Shouldn't this be illegal?
I'm not a legal expert by anymeans, in fact i'm just about as far from it as I can be (Architect by profession). But wouldn't the blocking of one company's browser (Chrome for Android [aka GoogleTV] / Boxee, etc) but not another company's browswer (IE, Firefox, by a firm (or firms) that holds a majority share in the market participating in anti-competitive practices under the Sherman Act, Section 3? Why aren't Boxee, Google, and everyone else suing for Anti-Trust Violations?
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another mike (profile), 22 Oct 2010 @ 10:26am

mmm, bacon
This is why I built a home theater PC (HTPC). The dogs don't know it's not bacon!
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Greevar (profile), 22 Oct 2010 @ 10:34am

Re: Ugh
"Making it suck less will."

Making not suck at all would be better.
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Greevar (profile), 22 Oct 2010 @ 10:37am

Re: mmm, bacon
That's the way to do it. Now you can download any show you please (sans the ads) and watch them at your convenience. Ted and Boxee are best friends on my HTPC.
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TPBer (profile), 22 Oct 2010 @ 10:41am

Re: Shouldn't this be illegal?
Chrome is not blocked if used on a PC. Is an OS identifier, have not tried on my android phone, just curious, has anyone received their Logitec Revue yet. It's probably just an issue with sony's crap. The Logitec worked on Hulu when I tested for a dish customer who was beta testing for their upcoming release but this was in Feb. He made it a point to try hulu.
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pcanton, 22 Oct 2010 @ 10:58am

Unstable features
Even if Hulu's subscription was worth something I wouldn't bite. They are too inconsistent. For example this season started out great shows available the day after airing the show on tv. Then, oh, we are sorry now the rest of the season will be available 30 days after the air date. Thewb.com does simiar things. You get half way through a series then it goes away. Why?? Who knows!! It wasn't even anything new. Guess I'll have to bit torrent it. Ugh.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2010 @ 11:31am

Hulu is crap. No one cares. It will die, let it go.
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Rekrul, 22 Oct 2010 @ 11:42am

Everyone just needs to get WebTV!
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Hulser (profile), 22 Oct 2010 @ 1:34pm

Re: Ugh
I really don't understand the logic of charging people money for a service then intentionally trying to block people from various devices.

From the perspective of Hulu, it is logical. Hulu has two masters, its customers and its owners (i.e. the companies which provide the content). Hulu is trying to balance the demands of the two. Lean too far towards what the customers want -- give them more, unrestricted content -- and you piss off the owners. Lean too far towards the owners -- don't give content away for free that is being sold to other parties for good money -- and you piss off your customers.

No, it's not logical in the grand scheme of things that Hulu would block Google TV, but if they don't, they'd have their content yanked. If you were a big cable company paying through the nose for a show to appear on your service, what would you think if you found out your customers were just going out and buying Google TV and getting the same content for free? Sure, the cable companies and the content companies are burying their heads in the sand by pretending that the world is the same as it was before the Internet, so what they're doing isn't really logical, but I can at least see why Hulu is doing what it's doing just to try to survive another day.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2010 @ 1:47pm

Re: Re: torrent of nonsense
It may be fun but VLC is increasingly insecure with system-level vulnerabilities. Be safe!
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robin, 22 Oct 2010 @ 4:08pm

not innocent
Admittedly, Hulu is apparently getting pressure from the TV companies to do these blocks...

apologies for repeating myself mike, but

hulu is the tv companies.

every single kerfuffle hulu has been involved in with its customers, it has done the exact same song and dance: we love our customers but we're being forced into this.

please...stop listening to them cry wolf.....and stop repeating their press releases.
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Mitch Featherston, 23 Oct 2010 @ 1:15pm

Hulu doesn't work
I have been a supporter of the CONCEPT that Hulu is built on from day one. To me, it makes perfect sense until it doesn't make sense... like controlling access points of their content. If Hulu could just allow 3rd party outfits to build onto their service, they could make Hulu work a lot like Revver originally worked.

At this point, my belief is that Hulu is broken (sadly).
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porkster, 23 Oct 2010 @ 8:54pm

Yes blocking any browser sucks even Australian browsers. Oh that's right you can't supply non US countries for a completely different reason, the TC networks don't like it....
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Ben, 24 Oct 2010 @ 9:53pm

uh, yeah try letting people outside of America actually access the damm thing might do a little to alleviate how much they suck.
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Pete (profile), 5 Nov 2010 @ 8:47pm

Re: Shouldn't this be illegal?
Good question. Perhaps they are hoping for some sort of peaceful resolution first?
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