Trouble playing Yleisradio MMS content

[scapade]

Hi,

I live in Finland and regularly watch content provided by the local broadcasting company YLE (http://areena.yle.fi/selaa , in Finnish). The content is to my understanding provided in mms -format. I've previously* copied & pasted the http -links (eg. http://www.yle.fi/java/areena/dispatche ... ?bitrate=1) to VLC media player (File > Open network > HTTP... ) and watched the content successfully .

Recently this stopped working. Instead the method provides and error message (mms://194.252.88.103/areena_world/areena-virhe-klippi.wmv?MSWMExt=.asf) stating that "Due to confines of the music protected by copyright, this programme is unfortunately only available in Finland". I'm still able to correctly play the content using QuickTime Player.

My hypothesis is that YLE somehow determines the supposed location of the end user. Based on that they either allow or dissallow the content. Somehow this logic works incorrectly when i'm using VLC as opposed to QuickTime Player.

Help is appreciated!

This may or may not be an OS X specific issue. Hardware is MacPro with OS 10.5.5. VLC 0.9.3.

* EDIT: with previously i mean VLC 0.8.6. However, i'm not sure is the issue related to VLC 0.9.3 or possible YLE changes.

[The DJ]

There is an error in their script. Or possibly, they are specifically targetting VLC media player because they know it can be used to record the stream. Complain with your government in that casse.

[scapade]

There is an error in their script. Or possibly, they are specifically targetting VLC media player because they know it can be used to record the stream. Complain with your government in that casse.

That is possible, although in this case i beg to differ. I just tried playing content using VLC 0.8.6i and it worked just fine. Therefore I dare to propose the issue has something to do with changes related to VLC 0.9.3.

EDIT: Actually, Yleisradio has provided instructions (http://yle.fi/urheilu/nain_katsot_yle_u ... 01832.html) on how to watch the content using VLC. This evidence strongly supports the assumption that they do not block certain media players.

[The DJ]

There is an error in their script. Or possibly, they are specifically targetting VLC media player because they know it can be used to record the stream. Complain with your government in that casse.

That is possible, although in this case i beg to differ. I just tried playing content using VLC 0.8.6i and it worked just fine. Therefore I dare to propose the issue has something to do with changes related to VLC 0.9.3.

EDIT: Actually, Yleisradio has provided instructions (http://yle.fi/urheilu/nain_katsot_yle_u ... 01832.html) on how to watch the content using VLC. This evidence strongly supports the assumption that they do not block certain media players.

Like i said. There must be an error in the way they handle a VLC request. (I cannot really check, since they are blocking me).

[scapade]

Like i said. There must be an error in the way they handle a VLC request. (I cannot really check, since they are blocking me).

I'm not sure about that. But if you provide me with some instructions on how to check, I'd be glad to do so.

[The DJ]

Use ehtereal to capture the communications.

If that is too difficult, complain with your broadcaster.

[scapade]

Use ehtereal to capture the communications.

Thanks for the advice. I have now captured the communication with Wireshark using both VLC 0.8.6i and the latest 0.9.4. Could I upload or send the captures to a developer ? With the little skill i have on interpreting the communication, I picked this ASX code from a packet:

Code: Select all

<ASX><ENTRY><TITLE></TITLE> <REF HREF="http://mediak.yle.fi/kotimaa/areena/52/35/523595_381443.wmv"></REF> <REF HREF="http://194.252.88.103/areena_world/areena-virhe-klippi.wmv" /> </ENTRY></ASX>

The first http entry is the correct clip and it plays correctly in VLC 0.9.4 if just this URL is copypasted. The second http points to the error clip. My hypothesis is that newer versions of VLC skip past the first http entry for some reason.

Also I tried to play the same stream on Windows XP using VLC 0.9.2 with similar unsuccesful results. Windows Mediaplayer played the stream with success. Therefore in assume that the issue is not OS dependent and this might be wrong forum area to discuss the issue furter. Could an administrator move the discussion perhaps to 'General VLC media player discussion' ?

[The DJ]

I have created a bug ticket for this issue. It is a valide issue with multiple <ref> in <entry> nodes of an ASX playlist.

https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/2178