After months of complaints, the BBC has announced that their catch-up service will be available to Mac and Linux users from about the end of this year. Interestingly, the announcement came in an article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7045123.stm) about the availability of the BBC site and services for free over wifi. The Mac/Linux announcement is in the fourth paragraph. For British Mac users, this may be almost as big as Leopard.

Well, sort of. It's online streaming only, whereas Windows users will get additional features through a desktop client that the BBC is saying will probably never be available for Mac or Linux (since it's tied to Windows DRM).

Well, sort of. It's online streaming only, whereas Windows users will get additional features through a desktop client that the BBC is saying will probably never be available for Mac or Linux (since it's tied to Windows DRM).

When the BBC wanted to introduce this service, the Trust (their overseers) required that it be available on all platforms. It was one of the conditions they set for the BBC to offer it. The BBC has, from the beginning, promised the same system on all platforms and has received a lot of criticism from British licence fee payers on Mac and Linux who have been shut out.

I don't think the BBC has any choice other than offering the same or very similar service to all their customers. And, AFAIK, the Windows users currently only have on-line streaming.

When the BBC wanted to introduce this service, the Trust (their overseers) required that it be available on all platforms. It was one of the conditions they set for the BBC to offer it. The BBC has, from the beginning, promised the same system on all platforms and has received a lot of criticism from British licence fee payers on Mac and Linux who have been shut out.

Well, they haven't promised it from the beginning. They only promised it after significant pressure. As for the current release:

BBC iPlayer goes cross-platform with Flash, downloading still limited to Windows (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071016-bbc-iplayer-goes-cross-platform-with-flash-downloading-still-limited-to-windows.html) (from Ars Technica)

Using Adobe's Flash has its downsides, as it means that Mac and Linux users will have to watch their shows in a web browser. Still, today's announcement means that the BBC will finally fulfill its cross-platform promises—even if it's in a fashion that effectively makes Mac OS X and Linux users second-class citizens.

At least the BBC Trust is demanding more.

BBC Trust: Crippled, streaming-only BBC iPlayer for Apple Macs won’t do (http://www.macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/bbc_trust_crippled_streaming_only_bbc_iplayer_for_apple_macs _wont_do/)

But saying what they have now is "compatible" is like saying CableCards are "compatible" with cable services. It is, but there is a huge asterisk after it.

You might find this interesting: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7047381.stm

Will this be available to in the US, or will it be blocked?

I really don't know. In general, the BBC does not try to collect fees from outside Britain, even people who are receiving their direct satellite transmissions. However, this service is supposed to only be available to the licence fee payers, meaning people who live in Britain.