I screamed then, I’m screaming now. NBC Direct, version 2, still disappoints. It’s like NBC is working overtime to piss off its users, or at least force them to use its other online video service Hulu.

NBC opened a second beta trial of NBC Direct, its Web-based video-on-demand (VOD) download service. The new-and-supposedly-improved Direct is now powered by peer-to-peer content distribution from Pando.

NBC Direct, in the works now for nearly a year, is a free download service for NBC programs. It requires a software install (still Windows only); the shows expire in seven days and 48 hours after you begin watching; and include advertising. Direct was universally panned when version 1 debuted last November.

The panning continues.