The BBC iPlayer is now an undeniable success with consumers. The technological mistakes and management waste of its lengthy gestation are almost forgotten in the flush of popular excitement surrounding the fact that now - at last - quality television is available on demand on the web.

A hostage to this success, the Corporation now faces its next big internet gamble. The price for a bad bet this time could be much higher, threatening the unique way the BBC is funded.

The iPlayer has been hugely popular with internet users and has been one of the major highlights of the Beeb this year; but ISPs have been quick to respond to this popularity and pointed out that they were losing money.

Some ISPs have also tried to manage BBC iPlayer data, something that the corporation has vehemently opposed and has threatened to blacklist those ISPs which would try to throttle iPlayer downloads.

On his BBC Internet Blog, Ashley Highfield, BBC's director of future media and technology, wrote a post entitled "Hidden Costs" of Watching TV Online? which refered to a previous article written by The Daily Telegraph and in which he attacked the stance and double standards of Internet Service Providers.