X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/08633c20a7bfab68c83605641ad0ec80d09480a9..ff27ea0d7bb88fbbd0710ce0f6b4698a5948298b:/blog/index.html diff --git a/blog/index.html b/blog/index.html index d7ca097475..799ce099ad 100644 --- a/blog/index.html +++ b/blog/index.html @@ -19,6 +19,174 @@ +
+
"Free Culture" by @lessig - The background story for Creative Commons - new edition available
+
23rd October 2015
+

Click +here to buy the book.

+ +

In 2004, as the Creative Commons +movement gained momentum, its creator Lawrence Lessig wrote the +book Free +Culture to explain the problems with increasing copyright +regulation and suggest some solutions. I read the book back then and +was moved very by it. Reading the book inspired me and changed the +way I looked on copyright law, and I would love it if more people +would read it too.

+ +

Because of this, I decided in the summer of 2012 to translate it to +Norwegian Bokmål and publish it for those of my friends and family +that prefer to read books in Norwegian. I translated the book using +docbook and a gettext PO file, and a byproduct of this process is a +new edition of the English original. I've been in touch with the +author during by work, and he said it was fine with him if I also +published an English version. So I decided to do so. Today, I made +this edition +available +for sale on Lulu.com, for those interested in a paper book. This +is the cover: + +

+ +

The Norwegian Bokmål version will be available for purchase in a +few days. I also plan to publish a French version in a few weeks or +months, depending on the amount of people with knowledge of French to +join the translation project. So far there is only one active +person, but the French book is almost completely translated but +need some proof reading.

+ +

The book is also available in PDF, ePub and MOBI formats from +my +github project page. Note the ePub and MOBI versions have some +formatting problems I believe is due to bugs in the docbook tool +dbtoepub (Debian BTS issues +#795842 +and +#796871), +but I have not taken the time to investigate. I recommend the PDF and +ePub version for now, as they seem to show up fine in the viewers I +have available.

+ +

After the translation to Norwegian Bokmål was complete, I was able +to secure some sponsoring from +the NUUG Foundation to +print the book. This is the reason their logo is located on the back +cover. I am very grateful for their contribution, and will use it to +give a copy of the Norwegian edition to members of the Norwegian +Parliament and other decision makers here in Norway.

+
+
+ + + Tags: docbook, english, freeculture. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
EU-domstolen konkluderer motsatt av Skatteetaten når det gjelder Bitcoin
+
22nd October 2015
+

Bitcoin er i litt vinden i Norge for tiden, med +kronikk +om bitcoin-overføringer på tvers av landegrensene hos NRK Ytring +for to dager siden og +dokumentar +om bitcoin på NRK 2 i forgårs og i går. I den sammenhengen er det +spesielt hyggelig med en gladnyhet fra EU om Bitcoin.

+ +

I dag konkluderte EU-domstolen at +Bitcoin-kjøp +fra Bitcoin-børser ikke er MVA-pliktig (sak C‑264/14). Fant +nyheten +først hos Reuters, etter tips fra innehaveren av +Bitmynt. EU-domstolens avgjørelse +er stikk i strid med +annonseringen +fra Skatteetaten i 2013, der de konkluderte med at bitcoin er et +«formuesobjekter» som det skulle betales mva på ved kjøp og salg. +Dermed la Skatteetaten opp til dobbel MVA-betaling hvis en kjøpte noe +med Bitcoin fra Norge (først mva på kjøp av Bitcoin, deretter mva på +det en kjøper med Bitcoin). Jeg lurer på om denne avgjørelsen får +Skatteetaten til å bytte mening. Gleder meg til fortsettelsen.

+
+
+ + + Tags: bitcoin, norsk. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
Lawrence Lessig interviewed Edward Snowden a year ago
+
19th October 2015
+

Last year, US president candidate +in the Democratic Party Lawrence interviewed Edward Snowden. The +one hour interview was +published by +Harvard Law School 2014-10-23 on Youtube, and the meeting took +place 2014-10-20.

+ +

The questions are very good, and there is lots of useful +information to be learned and very interesting issues to think about +being raised. Please check it out.

+ + + +

I find it especially interesting to hear again that Snowden did try +to bring up his reservations through the official channels without any +luck. It is in sharp contrast to the answers made 2013-11-06 by the +Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg to the Norwegian Parliament, +claiming +Snowden is no Whistle-Blower because he should have taken up his +concerns internally and using official channels. It make me sad +that this is the political leadership we have here in Norway.

+
+
+ + + Tags: english, personvern, sikkerhet, surveillance. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
The Story of Aaron Swartz - Let us all weep!
+
8th October 2015
+

The movie "The +Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz" is both inspiring +and depressing at the same time. The work of Aaron Swartz has +inspired me in my work, and I am grateful of all the improvements he +was able to initiate or complete. I wish I am able to do as much good +in my life as he did in his. Every minute of this 1:45 long movie is +inspiring in documenting how much impact a single person can have on +improving the society and this world. And it is depressing in +documenting how the law enforcement of USA (and other countries) is +corrupted to a point where they can push a bright kid to his death for +downloading too many scientific articles. Aaron is dead. Let us all +weep.

+ +

The movie is also available on +Youtube. I +wish there were Norwegian subtitles available, so I could show it to +my parents.

+
+
+ + + Tags: english, opphavsrett. + + +
+
+
+
Alle Stortingets mobiltelefoner kontrolleres fra USA...
7th October 2015
@@ -44,8 +212,9 @@ inkludert posisjon og innhold, takket være FISAAA-loven og "National -Security Letters" og det enkle faktum at AirWatch er kontrollert -av et selskap i USA. I tillegg er det kjent at kan flere lands +Security Letters" og det enkle faktum at selskapet +AirWatch er kontrollert av et +selskap i USA. I tillegg er det kjent at flere lands etterretningstjenester kan lytte på trafikken når den passerer landegrensene.

@@ -55,6 +224,27 @@ Stortinget om bruken av AirWatch via Mimes brønn så får vi se hva de har å fortelle om saken. Fant ingenting om 'airwatch' i postjournalen til Stortinget, så jeg trenger hjelp før jeg kan be om innsyn i konkrete dokumenter.

+ +

Oppdatering 2015-10-07: Jeg er blitt spurt hvorfor jeg antar at +AirWatch-agenten rapporterer til USA og ikke direkte til Stortingets +egen infrastruktur. Det stemmer at det er teknisk mulig å sette +opp mobiltelefonene til å rapportere til datamaskiner som eies av +Stortinget. Jeg antar det rapporteres til AirWatch sine sentrale +tjenester basert på det jeg leste fra beskrivelsen av +Mobile +Device Management på AirWatch sine egne nettsider, koblet med at +det brukes en standard app som kan hentes fra "app-butikkene" for å få +tilgang. Enten må app-en settes opp individuelt hos Stortinget, eller +så får den beskjed fra AirWatch i USA om hvor den skal koble seg opp. +I det første tilfellet vil den ikke rapportere direkte til USA, men +til programvare utviklet av AirWatch som kjører på en maskin under +Stortingets kontroll. Det er litt bedre, men fortsatt vil det være +umulig for Stortinget å være sikker på hva programvaren som tar imot +forbindelser gjør. Jeg ser fra beskrivelsen av +Enterprice +Integration hos AirWatch at det er mulig å ha lokal installasjon, +og håper innsynsforespørsler mot Stortinget kan fortelle mer om +hvordan ting konkret fungerer der.

@@ -408,441 +598,6 @@ result in a few months.

-
-
Typesetting DocBook footnotes as endnotes with dblatex
-
16th July 2015
-

I'm still working on the Norwegian version of the -Free Culture book by Lawrence -Lessig, and is now working on the final typesetting and layout. -One of the features I want to get the structure similar to the -original book is to typeset the footnotes as endnotes in the notes -chapter. Based on the -feedback from the Debian -maintainer and the dblatex developer, I came up with this recipe I -would like to share with you. The proposal was to create a new LaTeX -class file and add the LaTeX code there, but this is not always -practical, when I want to be able to replace the class using a make -file variable. So my proposal misuses the latex.begindocument XSL -parameter value, to get a small fragment into the correct location in -the generated LaTeX File.

- -

First, decide where in the DocBook document to place the endnotes, -and add this text there:

- -
-<?latex \theendnotes ?>
-
- -

Next, create a xsl stylesheet file dblatex-endnotes.xsl to add the -code needed to add the endnote instructions in the preamble of the -generated LaTeX document, with content like this:

- -
-<?xml version='1.0'?>
-<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version='1.0'>
-  <xsl:param name="latex.begindocument">
-    <xsl:text>
-\usepackage{endnotes}
-\let\footnote=\endnote
-\def\enoteheading{\mbox{}\par\vskip-\baselineskip }
-\begin{document}
-    </xsl:text>
-  </xsl:param>
-</xsl:stylesheet>
-
- -

Finally, load this xsl file when running dblatex, for example like -this:

- -
-dblatex --xsl-user=dblatex-endnotes.xsl freeculture.nb.xml
-
- -

The end result can be seen on github, where -my -book project is located.

-
-
- - - Tags: docbook, english, freeculture. - - -
-
-
- -
-
Mimes brønn, norsk utgave av Alaveteli / WhatDoTheyKnow, endelig lansert
-
9th July 2015
-

I går fikk vi endelig lansert en norsk version av mySocietys -WhatDoTheyKnow. -Tjenesten heter Mimes brønn, og ble -annonsert -av NUUG via blogg, epost og twitter til NUUG-assosierte personer. -Det har tatt noen år, men de siste dagene fikk vi endelig tid til å få -på plass de siste bitene. Vi er to, Gorm og meg selv, som har vært -primus motor for det hele, men vi har fått hjelp med oversettelser og -oppsett fra mange flere. Jeg vil si tusen takk til hver og en av dem, -og er veldig fornøyd med at vi klarte å få tjenesten opp å kjøre før -ferietiden slo inn for fullt.

- -

Vi er usikker på hvor mye belastning den virtuelle maskinen der -tjenesten kjører klarer, så vi har lansert litt i det stille og ikke -til for mange folk for å se hvordan maskinen klarer seg over sommeren, -før vi går mer aktivt ut og annonserer til høsten. Ta en titt, og se -om du kanskje har et spørsmål til det offentlige som er egnet å sende -inn via Mimes brønn.

- -

Hvis du lurer på hva i alle dager en slik tjenestes kan brukes til, -anbefaler jeg deg å se -TED-foredraget til -Heather Brook om hvordan hun brukte WhatDoTheyKnow til å lære -hvordan offentlige midler ble misbrukt. Det er en inspirerende -historie.

-
-
- - - Tags: norsk, nuug, offentlig innsyn. - - -
-
-
- -
-
MPEG LA on "Internet Broadcast AVC Video" licensing and non-private use
-
7th July 2015
-

After asking the Norwegian Broadcasting Company (NRK) -why -they can broadcast and stream H.264 video without an agreement with -the MPEG LA, I was wiser, but still confused. So I asked MPEG LA -if their understanding matched that of NRK. As far as I can tell, it -does not.

- -

I started by asking for more information about the various -licensing classes and what exactly is covered by the "Internet -Broadcast AVC Video" class that NRK pointed me at to explain why NRK -did not need a license for streaming H.264 video: - -

- -

According to -a -MPEG LA press release dated 2010-02-02, there is no charge when -using MPEG AVC/H.264 according to the terms of "Internet Broadcast AVC -Video". I am trying to understand exactly what the terms of "Internet -Broadcast AVC Video" is, and wondered if you could help me. What -exactly is covered by these terms, and what is not?

- -

The only source of more information I have been able to find is a -PDF named -AVC -Patent Portfolio License Briefing, which states this about the -fees:

- -
    -
  • Where End User pays for AVC Video -
      -
    • Subscription (not limited by title) – 100,000 or fewer - subscribers/yr = no royalty; > 100,000 to 250,000 subscribers/yr = - $25,000; >250,000 to 500,000 subscribers/yr = $50,000; >500,000 to - 1M subscribers/yr = $75,000; >1M subscribers/yr = $100,000
      • - -
    • Title-by-Title - 12 minutes or less = no royalty; >12 minutes in - length = lower of (a) 2% or (b) $0.02 per title
      • -
    • - -
  • Where remuneration is from other sources -
      -
    • Free Television - (a) one-time $2,500 per transmission encoder or - (b) annual fee starting at $2,500 for > 100,000 HH rising to - maximum $10,000 for >1,000,000 HH
      • - -
    • Internet Broadcast AVC Video (not title-by-title, not subscription) - – no royalty for life of the AVC Patent Portfolio License
      • -
    • -
- -

Am I correct in assuming that the four categories listed is the -categories used when selecting licensing terms, and that "Internet -Broadcast AVC Video" is the category for things that do not fall into -one of the other three categories? Can you point me to a good source -explaining what is ment by "title-by-title" and "Free Television" in -the license terms for AVC/H.264?

- -

Will a web service providing H.264 encoded video content in a -"video on demand" fashing similar to Youtube and Vimeo, where no -subscription is required and no payment is required from end users to -get access to the videos, fall under the terms of the "Internet -Broadcast AVC Video", ie no royalty for life of the AVC Patent -Portfolio license? Does it matter if some users are subscribed to get -access to personalized services?

- -

Note, this request and all answers will be published on the -Internet.

-

- -

The answer came quickly from Benjamin J. Myers, Licensing Associate -with the MPEG LA:

- -

-

Thank you for your message and for your interest in MPEG LA. We -appreciate hearing from you and I will be happy to assist you.

- -

As you are aware, MPEG LA offers our AVC Patent Portfolio License -which provides coverage under patents that are essential for use of -the AVC/H.264 Standard (MPEG-4 Part 10). Specifically, coverage is -provided for end products and video content that make use of AVC/H.264 -technology. Accordingly, the party offering such end products and -video to End Users concludes the AVC License and is responsible for -paying the applicable royalties.

- -

Regarding Internet Broadcast AVC Video, the AVC License generally -defines such content to be video that is distributed to End Users over -the Internet free-of-charge. Therefore, if a party offers a service -which allows users to upload AVC/H.264 video to its website, and such -AVC Video is delivered to End Users for free, then such video would -receive coverage under the sublicense for Internet Broadcast AVC -Video, which is not subject to any royalties for the life of the AVC -License. This would also apply in the scenario where a user creates a -free online account in order to receive a customized offering of free -AVC Video content. In other words, as long as the End User is given -access to or views AVC Video content at no cost to the End User, then -no royalties would be payable under our AVC License.

- -

On the other hand, if End Users pay for access to AVC Video for a -specific period of time (e.g., one month, one year, etc.), then such -video would constitute Subscription AVC Video. In cases where AVC -Video is delivered to End Users on a pay-per-view basis, then such -content would constitute Title-by-Title AVC Video. If a party offers -Subscription or Title-by-Title AVC Video to End Users, then they would -be responsible for paying the applicable royalties you noted below.

- -

Finally, in the case where AVC Video is distributed for free -through an "over-the-air, satellite and/or cable transmission", then -such content would constitute Free Television AVC Video and would be -subject to the applicable royalties.

- -

For your reference, I have attached -a -.pdf copy of the AVC License. You will find the relevant -sublicense information regarding AVC Video in Sections 2.2 through -2.5, and the corresponding royalties in Section 3.1.2 through 3.1.4. -You will also find the definitions of Title-by-Title AVC Video, -Subscription AVC Video, Free Television AVC Video, and Internet -Broadcast AVC Video in Section 1 of the License. Please note that the -electronic copy is provided for informational purposes only and cannot -be used for execution.

- -

I hope the above information is helpful. If you have additional -questions or need further assistance with the AVC License, please feel -free to contact me directly.

-

- -

Having a fresh copy of the license text was useful, and knowing -that the definition of Title-by-Title required payment per title made -me aware that my earlier understanding of that phrase had been wrong. -But I still had a few questions:

- -

-

I have a small followup question. Would it be possible for me to get -a license with MPEG LA even if there are no royalties to be paid? The -reason I ask, is that some video related products have a copyright -clause limiting their use without a license with MPEG LA. The clauses -typically look similar to this: - -

- This product is licensed under the AVC patent portfolio license for - the personal and non-commercial use of a consumer to (a) encode - video in compliance with the AVC standard ("AVC video") and/or (b) - decode AVC video that was encoded by a consumer engaged in a - personal and non-commercial activity and/or AVC video that was - obtained from a video provider licensed to provide AVC video. No - license is granted or shall be implied for any other use. additional - information may be obtained from MPEG LA L.L.C. -

- -

It is unclear to me if this clause mean that I need to enter into -an agreement with MPEG LA to use the product in question, even if -there are no royalties to be paid to MPEG LA. I suspect it will -differ depending on the jurisdiction, and mine is Norway. What is -MPEG LAs view on this?

-

- -

According to the answer, MPEG LA believe those using such tools for -non-personal or commercial use need a license with them:

- -

- -

With regard to the Notice to Customers, I would like to begin by -clarifying that the Notice from Section 7.1 of the AVC License -reads:

- -

THIS PRODUCT IS LICENSED UNDER THE AVC PATENT PORTFOLIO LICENSE FOR -THE PERSONAL USE OF A CONSUMER OR OTHER USES IN WHICH IT DOES NOT -RECEIVE REMUNERATION TO (i) ENCODE VIDEO IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE AVC -STANDARD ("AVC VIDEO") AND/OR (ii) DECODE AVC VIDEO THAT WAS ENCODED -BY A CONSUMER ENGAGED IN A PERSONAL ACTIVITY AND/OR WAS OBTAINED FROM -A VIDEO PROVIDER LICENSED TO PROVIDE AVC VIDEO. NO LICENSE IS GRANTED -OR SHALL BE IMPLIED FOR ANY OTHER USE. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MAY BE -OBTAINED FROM MPEG LA, L.L.C. SEE HTTP://WWW.MPEGLA.COM

- -

The Notice to Customers is intended to inform End Users of the -personal usage rights (for example, to watch video content) included -with the product they purchased, and to encourage any party using the -product for commercial purposes to contact MPEG LA in order to become -licensed for such use (for example, when they use an AVC Product to -deliver Title-by-Title, Subscription, Free Television or Internet -Broadcast AVC Video to End Users, or to re-Sell a third party's AVC -Product as their own branded AVC Product).

- -

Therefore, if a party is to be licensed for its use of an AVC -Product to Sell AVC Video on a Title-by-Title, Subscription, Free -Television or Internet Broadcast basis, that party would need to -conclude the AVC License, even in the case where no royalties were -payable under the License. On the other hand, if that party (either a -Consumer or business customer) simply uses an AVC Product for their -own internal purposes and not for the commercial purposes referenced -above, then such use would be included in the royalty paid for the AVC -Products by the licensed supplier.

- -

Finally, I note that our AVC License provides worldwide coverage in -countries that have AVC Patent Portfolio Patents, including -Norway.

- -

I hope this clarification is helpful. If I may be of any further -assistance, just let me know.

-

- -

The mentioning of Norwegian patents made me a bit confused, so I -asked for more information:

- -

- -

But one minor question at the end. If I understand you correctly, -you state in the quote above that there are patents in the AVC Patent -Portfolio that are valid in Norway. This make me believe I read the -list available from <URL: -http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Pages/PatentList.aspx -> incorrectly, as I believed the "NO" prefix in front of patents -were Norwegian patents, and the only one I could find under Mitsubishi -Electric Corporation expired in 2012. Which patents are you referring -to that are relevant for Norway?

- -

- -

Again, the quick answer explained how to read the list of patents -in that list:

- -

- -

Your understanding is correct that the last AVC Patent Portfolio -Patent in Norway expired on 21 October 2012. Therefore, where AVC -Video is both made and Sold in Norway after that date, then no -royalties would be payable for such AVC Video under the AVC License. -With that said, our AVC License provides historic coverage for AVC -Products and AVC Video that may have been manufactured or Sold before -the last Norwegian AVC patent expired. I would also like to clarify -that coverage is provided for the country of manufacture and the -country of Sale that has active AVC Patent Portfolio Patents.

- -

Therefore, if a party offers AVC Products or AVC Video for Sale in -a country with active AVC Patent Portfolio Patents (for example, -Sweden, Denmark, Finland, etc.), then that party would still need -coverage under the AVC License even if such products or video are -initially made in a country without active AVC Patent Portfolio -Patents (for example, Norway). Similarly, a party would need to -conclude the AVC License if they make AVC Products or AVC Video in a -country with active AVC Patent Portfolio Patents, but eventually Sell -such AVC Products or AVC Video in a country without active AVC Patent -Portfolio Patents.

-

- -

As far as I understand it, MPEG LA believe anyone using Adobe -Premiere and other video related software with a H.264 distribution -license need a license agreement with MPEG LA to use such tools for -anything non-private or commercial, while it is OK to set up a -Youtube-like service as long as no-one pays to get access to the -content. I still have no clear idea how this applies to Norway, where -none of the patents MPEG LA is licensing are valid. Will the -copyright terms take precedence or can those terms be ignored because -the patents are not valid in Norway?

-
-
- - - Tags: english, h264, multimedia, opphavsrett, standard, video, web. - - -
-
-
- -
-
New laptop - some more clues and ideas based on feedback
-
5th July 2015
-

Several people contacted me after my previous blog post about my -need for a new laptop, and provided very useful feedback. I wish to -thank every one of these. Several pointed me to the possibility of -fixing my X230, and I am already in the process of getting Lenovo to -do so thanks to the on site, next day support contract covering the -machine. But the battery is almost useless (I expect to replace it -with a non-official battery) and I do not expect the machine to live -for many more years, so it is time to plan its replacement. If I did -not have a support contract, it was suggested to find replacement parts -using FrancEcrans, but it -might present a language barrier as I do not understand French.

- -

One tip I got was to use the -Skinflint web service to -compare laptop models. It seem to have more models available than -prisjakt.no. Another tip I got from someone I know have similar -keyboard preferences was that the HP EliteBook 840 keyboard is not -very good, and this matches my experience with earlier EliteBook -keyboards I tested. Because of this, I will not consider it any further. - -

When I wrote my blog post, I was not aware of Thinkpad X250, the -newest Thinkpad X model. The keyboard reintroduces mouse buttons -(which is missing from the X240), and is working fairly well with -Debian Sid/Unstable according to -Corsac.net. The reports I -got on the keyboard quality are not consistent. Some say the keyboard -is good, others say it is ok, while others say it is not very good. -Those with experience from X41 and and X60 agree that the X250 -keyboard is not as good as those trusty old laptops, and suggest I -keep and fix my X230 instead of upgrading, or get a used X230 to -replace it. I'm also told that the X250 lack leds for caps lock, disk -activity and battery status, which is very convenient on my X230. I'm -also told that the CPU fan is running very often, making it a bit -noisy. In any case, the X250 do not work out of the box with Debian -Stable/Jessie, one of my requirements.

- -

I have also gotten a few vendor proposals, one was -Pro-Star, another was -Libreboot. -The latter look very attractive to me.

- -

Again, thank you all for the very useful feedback. It help a lot -as I keep looking for a replacement.

- -

Update 2015-07-06: I was recommended to check out the -lapstore.de web shop for used laptops. They got several -different -old -thinkpad X models, and provide one year warranty.

-
-
- - - Tags: debian, english. - - -
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