Following my favourite Internet TV service, CraftyTV, nearly getting completely shut down by the MPAA, I turned to their main competitor: StreamWired.

StreamWired vastly differs from CraftyTV. For a start, StreamWired has streams dedicated to certain shows, but you can’t specifically pick an episode from a certain series and more than often an episode is half way through by the time you connect. CraftyTV was much more on demand, you could select a specific episode, which would begin from the start. However, StreamWired is much more professional, and until recently there were more shows than they were at CraftyTV.

Much like CraftyTV, StreamWired was also attacked by the MPAA. This required StreamWired to bring down 78 of it’s streams which really has lowered the show line-up, with the loss of my favourites (CSI, Star Trek and Law and Order franchises). There are around a hundred streams left, though. StreamWired, however, was large enough to survive the MPAA.

StreamWired’s streams are delivered as a NSV, allowing them to be viewed on virtually any OS through VLC, or in Windows through ActiveX and Winamp.

StreamWired is also launching Acid, and though details are limited, it will allow you to watch StreamWired on your mobile device and through a new way on the desktop. I am lucking forward to being able to watch shows like Only Fools and Horses on my PocketPC!

IPTV is truly a thrilling prospect. More channels, all running through the Internet. In the UK, IPTV isn’t mainstream. Though we have TV channels on 3G mobile phones, we have [literally] no selection of TV channels we can watch through the Internet on our computer. I love being able to watch TV and work, it is much more productive than having to glare at a TV every other minute :). IPTV is a possibility, and a fairly easy one to implement at that. I mean why does the BBC need five year roll-out plans when all you need is to encode video and run it through ShoutCast or a similar tool? Bandwidth, perhaps.

IMO, it’ll be at least half a decade until mainstream channels launch free, always on air, Internet streams of their main channels. However, I would love to view live American TV, and I’m sure Americans would equally enjoy British TV. If the IPTV channels displayed ads localised to the viewer’s ISP, it may be profitable as well.

On the offchance you (the MPAA) are reading: you shouldn’t be bringing down sites like StreamWired; but instead should try to come to a comprimise (such as commercials), or royalties.

Tags: television, tv, iptv, web2.0, web 2.0, piracy, web2, web 2, internet, mpaa, streamwired, craftytv