http://www.bbc.co.uk/imp/

Enjoy. A service, that like Youtube, lets you watch media content on your PC for free.

Except not exactly.

Most content will only be available for 7 days after broadcast, which makes it worse than a DVD recorder. You can stack up episodes of series like Doctor Who, but episodes will then delete themselves after 30 days.

Additionally, once you start watching something a timer starts counting down - you now only have 7 days to finish watching what you started or before again, the content deletes itself.

Oh, and the only content will be from the Beeb.

Now none of this is retarded in and of itself, but I'm completely confused as to the wisdom of spending license-payers' money on developing a technology when that same technology is already established in superior form elsewhere - why am I using this client, when I can already download an entire season of say, Hustle from TV-Links and similar sites, at broadcast quality, watchable on any of my many media players, without signing or agreeing to anything and keep it forever?