I've just read on Digg that Channel4 are going to be offering a content download service. Great eh? Only problem is it's for Windows users only. Hmmm, maybe not so great.

Show your support for this issue at http://slated.org/ch4_microsoft_bias_vote.

So, in that great Slated tradition, I put metaphorical pen to paper, and sent yet another "letter" of complaint ... as follows:

I am extremely disappointed to note that your 4oD service has been restricted to users of Microsoft products. This is a grossly unfair and extremely short-sighted decision on CH4's part.

You state in your 4oD FAQ that: "there is no other Mac-compatible DRM solution which meets the protection requirements of content owners."

This is simply not true. RealNetworks have been providing DRM content for Mac, Linux and Windows users for over a year now, with their Rhapsody service, and I'm sure CH4 could have licensed RealNetworks' technology just as easily as Microsoft's.

By restricting 4oD content to the Windows platform, you are not only losing potential subscribers on other platforms, but also reinforcing Microsoft's already unhealthy dominant share of the market. This is an unnecessary and damaging bias, which only serves to alienate your viewers.

This decision is also not very forward-looking. This year see the release of Windows Vista, which by many accounts is set to be the least popular version of Microsoft's operating system to date, and many such comments come from industry professionals and insiders, who are in a position well qualified to make such statements. As a result, there is likely to be a considerable surge in uptake of other OS platforms in the coming months, and a proportionate drop in Windows users.

Does CH4 really wish to exclude this rapidly growing market?

As a Linux user, this is one potential subscriber that you have lost.

I can only hope that CH4 will seek to reevaluate its misguided decision, in the near future.