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On a fact-finding mission to the US, BBC Director-General Mark Thompson and Director of New Media and Technology Ashley Highfield met Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates to sign a memorandum of understanding on a joint initiative to explore how BBC content is accessed.

The BBC's to-do list includes an online archive, a 'radically re-invented' website and new ways of delivering online content. The companies will also work on search and navigation, distribution and 'content enablement'.

A BBC spokesperson told us that the corporation would also be looking into Microsoft's Digital Rights Management systems. 'It's something that has been discussed,' she said. 'We are very aware of Microsoft's technologies in rights management, but we have no commitment to anything.'

Along with Microsoft's technologies, the BBC is interested in the company's customer base. 'Microsoft is not just a key supplier to the BBC, it is also a key gateway to audiences that the BBC needs

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to reach through web services it runs like MSN and Windows Live Messenger, and hardware such as Xbox and the Windows Media Center,' said Highfield.

However, the agreement is little more than a preliminary handshake. The spokesperson told us: 'It's just an agreement to start a conversation. There's no financial or other obligation to come up with a solution.'

Neither is the agreement exclusive. Thompson and Highfield's US tour took in more than just the Redmond campus. The spokesperson told us that the corporation is also in talks with Real Networks, IBM, Linden Lab, Google, Apple and Sony among others.

'To ensure that the BBC is able to embrace the creative challenges of the digital future, we need to forge strategic partnerships with technology companies and distributors for the benefit of licence payers,' said Thompson.

The BBC is already trialling a range of digital services, including its iPlayer media jukebox which gives access to live and archived programming. However, initiatives to make its content available through new channels will have to pass muster under a Public Value Test (PVT) by the BBC Trust. This will include market impact assessments by the regulator Ofcom.

Other regulatory considerations include how to manage the international aspect of access to BBC content with regard to the TV licence. The BBC has even considered ad-supported services for its overseas users.