X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/98f7aa4bfbece7c6a013f5945eda6b7f17d78b51..96afec717704e5954a09298d6eb04446986cccc4:/blog/index.html diff --git a/blog/index.html b/blog/index.html index eb4ac7c9f2..97ce303eb2 100644 --- a/blog/index.html +++ b/blog/index.html @@ -20,39 +20,30 @@
-
Of course USA looses in cyber war - NSA and friends made sure it would happen
-
19th December 2014
-

So, Sony caved in -(according -to Rob Lowe) and demonstrated that America lost its first cyberwar -(according -to Newt Gingrich). It should not surprise anyone, after the -whistle blower Edward Snowden documented that the government of USA -and their allies for many years have done their best to make sure the -technology used by its citizens is filled with security holes allowing -the secret services to spy on its own population. No one in their -right minds could believe that the ability to snoop on the people all -over the globe could only be used by the personnel authorized to do so -by the president of the United States of America. If the capabilities -are there, they will be used by friend and foe alike, and now they are -being used to bring Sony on its knees.

- -

I doubt it will a lesson learned, and expect USA to loose its next -cyber war too, given how eager the western intelligence communities -(and probably the non-western too, but it is less in the news) seem to -be to continue its current dragnet surveillance practice.

- -

There is a reason why China and others are trying to move away from -Windows to Linux and other alternatives, and it is not to avoid -sending its hard earned dollars to Cayman Islands (or whatever -tax haven -Microsoft is using these days to collect the majority of its -income. :)

+ +
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. Aron 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.

@@ -60,64 +51,68 @@ income. :)

- -
18th December 2014
-

Må Microsoft virkelig ha hjelp av unger for å holde på -hemmelighetene sine?

- -

I dag kom det en fascinerende artikkel i Aftenposten om -hva -Microsoft har foreslått at foreldre går med på for å la ungene -delta på Lær kidsa koding på -skolen. De ber foreldrene om å få bruke bilder og video av ungene -kommersielt og gratis i all fremtid, hvilket var så drøyt at -Arbeiderpartiets bystyrerepresentant -Per Anders -Torvik Langerød tok opp saken opp under bystyrets muntlige -spørretime onsdag. Resultatet av dette er at Microsoft har trukket -tilbake teksten i samtykkeerklæringen og kommunikasjonsdirektør -Christine Korme i Microsoft sier i artikkelen at «Vi vil presentere en -ny erklæring som gjør det helt klart i hvilken forbindelse materialet -skal brukes, altså ikke-kommersielt», hvilket jo er fint. Jeg lurer -virkelig på hvordan teksten kunne slippe ut til foreldrene i første -omgang. Her har noen på skolen ikke fulgt med i timen, eller mangler -grunnleggende personverntrening.

- -

Men bildet av samtykkeerklæringen inneholder også en annen -problematisk klausul, som ikke omtales overhodet i -Aftenposten-artikkelen. Neste punkt i erklæringen lyder:

- -

-«Du aksepterer ikke å bruke eller videreformidle til en tredjepart -noen hemmelige eller fortrolige opplysninger som gis av Microsoft i -løpet av elevens deltagelse.» -

- -

Mener Microsoft virkelig at foreldre og barn skal ta ansvar for at -Microsoft ikke klarer å holde hemmelig og fortrolig informasjon for -seg selv når de besøker en offentlig norsk skole? Jeg ville nektet -plent å signert på en avtale med en slik klausul, da det er Microsofts -ansvar å holde på sine hemmeligheter, og ikke noe mine barn og min -familie tar på oss erstatningsansvar for hvis de kommer på avveie.

- -

Jeg lurer på om noen har fått se den nye samtykkeerklæringen? -Inneholder den fortsatt klausul om hemmelighold? Hvor mange er det -som hittil har signert på den gamle samtykkeerklæringen? Hvor har den -vært brukt? Savnet svar på disse spørsmålene i artikkelen, da de som -har signert på den gamle vel vil være bundet av den selv om ingen -flere signerer på den.

- -

Lær kidsa koding er et glimrende initiativ, og jeg skulle ønske -noen av foreningen NUUGs medlemmer -hadde kapasitet til å delta i initiativet på NUUGs vegne. Selv tar -jobb, familie og eksisterende prosjekter allerede all tid. Slik -Microsoft tydeligvis holder på er det behov for noen med et annet syn -på livet som bidragsyter her.

+ +
7th October 2015
+

Jeg lot meg fascinere av +en +artikkel i Aftenposten der det fortelles at «over 600 telefoner som +benyttes av stortingsrepresentanter, rådgivere og ansatte på +Stortinget, kan «fjernstyres» ved hjelp av +programvaren +Airwatch, et såkalte MDM-program (Mobile Device Managment)». Det +hele bagatelliseres av Stortingets IT-stab, men det er i hovedsak på +grunn av at journalisten ikke stiller de relevante spørsmålene. For +meg er det relevante spørsmålet hvem som har lovlig tilgang (i henhold +til lokal lovgiving, dvs. i hvert fall i Norge, Sverige, UK og USA) +til informasjon om og på telefonene, og hvor enkelt det er å skaffe +seg tilgang til hvor mobilene befinner seg og informasjon som befinner +seg på telefonene ved hjelp av utro tjenere, trusler, innbrudd og +andre ulovlige metoder.

+ +

Bruken av AirWatch betyr i realiteten at USAs etteretning og +politimyndigheter har full tilgang til stortingets mobiltelefoner, +inkludert posisjon og innhold, takket være +FISAAA-loven +og +"National +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.

+ +

Jeg har bedt om mer informasjon +fra +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.

@@ -125,115 +120,32 @@ på livet som bidragsyter her.

- -
12th December 2014
-

For noen dager siden -annonserte -Nasjonalbiblioteket gladnyheten om at de i sine arkiver hadde -funnet et nitratfilm-eksemplar av en 87 år gammel Disney-film ved navn -Empty Socks, en film som tidligere var antatt tapt og der det i følge -nyhetsmeldinger var kun ca. 25 sekunder bevart for ettertiden. -Nasjonalbiblioteket hadde 5 minutter og 30 sekunder av filmen i sitt -magasin. Dette er flott for bevaringen av verdens kulturarv. 5,5 -minutter mindre tapt enn vi trodde av vår felles historie.

- -

Men hvordan kunne filmen gå tapt, når arkivlovene i USA krevde at -publiserte filmer på den tiden ble deponert i bibliotek? Forklaringen -har jeg fra Lawrence Lessig og boken -Free Culture, som jeg holder på -å -oversette til norsk:

- -

-

Dette er delvis på grunn av loven. Opphavsrettseiere var tidlig i - amerikansk opphavsrettslov nødt til å deponere kopier av sine verk i - biblioteker. Disse kopiene skulle både sikre spredning av kunnskap, - og sikre at det fantes en kopi av verket tilgjengelig når vernetiden - utløp, slik at andre kunne få tilgang til og kopiere verket.

- -

Disse reglene gjaldt også for filmer. Men i 1915 gjorde - kongressbiblioteket et unntak for film. Filmer kunne bli - opphavsrettsbeskyttet så lenge det ble gjort slik deponering. Men - filmskaperne fikk så lov til å låne tilbake de deponerte filmene - - så lenge de ville uten noe kostnad. Bare i 1915 var det mer enn 5475 - filmer deponert og “lånt tilbake”. Dermed var det ikke noe eksemplar - i noe bibliotek når vernetiden til filmen utløp. Eksemplaret - eksisterer - hvis den finnes i det hele tatt - i arkivbiblioteket - til filmselskapet.

-

- -

Nyheten gjorde meg nysgjerrig på om filmen kunne være falt i det -fri. En 87 år gammel film kunne jo tenkes å ha blitt en del av -allemannseiet, slik at vi alle kan bruke den til å bygge videre på vår -felles kultur uten å måtte be om tillatelse - slik Walt Disney gjorde -det i starten av sin karriere. Jeg spurte nasjonalbiblioteket, og de -sa nei. Hvordan kan det ha seg med en så gammel film? Jeg besteme -meg for å undersøke nærmere. En kan finne informasjon om den norske -vernetiden på -Lovdata -og Wikipedia. Her er et relevant utsnitt fra -siden om opphavsrett i den norske Wikipedia:

- -

- Ifølge åndsverkloven §§ 40-41 utløper vernetiden for et åndsverk 70 - år etter utløpet av opphavspersonens dødsår. [...] For filmverk - gjelder særlige regler: Her kommer ikke alle mulige opphavspersoner - i betraktning, men kun hovedregissøren, manusforfatteren, - dialogforfatteren og komponisten av filmmusikken. Vernetiden - begynner å løpe etter utgangen av dødsåret til den lengstlevende av - disse. [...] Der opphavspersonen er ukjent, utløper opphavsretten 70 - år etter første kjente offentliggjørelse av verket. Det er kun de - økonomiske rettighetene som faller bort i det vernetiden er - utløpt. De ideelle rettighetene må fortsatt respekteres, noe som - blant annet innebærer at man plikter å navngi opphavspersonen ved - tilgjengeliggjøring. -

- -

I følge nettstedet -The -Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts er følgende personer gitt -æren for denne kortfilmen:

- -
- -
Regissør
-
Walt Disney (1901-12-05 – 1966-12-15) +70 år = 2037
- -
Animasjon -
Ub Iwerks (1901-03-24 – 1971-07-07) +70 år = 2042 -
Rollin "Ham" Hamilton (1898-10-28 - 1951-06-03) +70 år = 2022 -
Hugh Harman (1903-08-31 – 1982-11-25) +70 år = 2053
- -
Kamera -
Mike Marcus (?-?)
- -
- -

Alle fødsels- og dødsdatoene er fra engelske Wikipedia. Det er -ikke oppgitt navn på manusforfatter, dialogforfatter og komponist, men -jeg mistenker at tegnerne vil få opphavsrettigheter på tegnefilmer her -i Norge, og tar derfor med disse. Kameramannen vil ikke få noen -rettigheter så vidt jeg forstår, og er derfor ignorert her.

- -

Slik jeg forstår den norske opphavsretten vil dermed dette -filmverket bli allemannseie (også kalt å falle i det fri) i 2053, 126 -år etter at det ble utgitt. Hvis kun regissørens rettigheter er -relevante, vil det skje i 2037, 110 år etter at det ble utgitt. Etter -det vil enhver kunne dele det med alle de har lyst til, fremføre det -offentlig eller klippe og lime i det for å lage sin egen film basert -på det - helt uten å måtte spørre noen om lov.

- -

Måtte så Nasjonalbiblioteket spørre om lov før de kunne kopiere -sitt nitrat-eksemplar over på mer varig format? Nei, heldigvis. -Åndsverklovens § 16 sier at arkiv, bibliotek, museer og undervisnings- -og forskningsinstitusjoner har rett til å fremstille eksemplar av verk -for konserverings- og sikringsformål og andre særskilte formål.

+ +
1st October 2015
+

As I wrap up the Norwegian version of +Free +Culture book by Lawrence Lessig (still waiting for my final proof +reading copy to arrive in the mail), my great +dblatex helper and +developer of the dblatex docbook processor, Benoît Guillon, decided a +to try to create a French version of the book. He started with the +French translation available from the +Wikilivres wiki +pages, and wrote a program to convert it into a PO file, allowing +the translation to be integrated into the po4a based framework I use +to create the Norwegian translation from the English edition. We meet +on the #dblatex IRC +channel to discuss the work. If you want to help create a French +edition, check out +his git +repository and join us on IRC. If the French edition look good, +we might publish it as a paper book on lulu.com. A French version of +the drawings and the cover need to be provided for this to happen.

@@ -241,70 +153,144 @@ for konserverings- og sikringsformål og andre særskilte formål.

- -
22nd November 2014
-

By now, it is well known that Debian Jessie will not be using -sysvinit as its boot system by default. But how can one keep using -sysvinit in Jessie? It is fairly easy, and here are a few recipes, -courtesy of -Erich -Schubert and -Simon -McVittie. - -

If you already are using Wheezy and want to upgrade to Jessie and -keep sysvinit as your boot system, create a file -/etc/apt/preferences.d/use-sysvinit with this content before -you upgrade:

- -

-Package: systemd-sysv
-Pin: release o=Debian
-Pin-Priority: -1
-

- -

This file content will tell apt and aptitude to not consider -installing systemd-sysv as part of any installation and upgrade -solution when resolving dependencies, and thus tell it to avoid -systemd as a default boot system. The end result should be that the -upgraded system keep using sysvinit.

- -

If you are installing Jessie for the first time, there is no way to -get sysvinit installed by default (debootstrap used by -debian-installer have no option for this), but one can tell the -installer to switch to sysvinit before the first boot. Either by -using a kernel argument to the installer, or by adding a line to the -preseed file used. First, the kernel command line argument: - -

-preseed/late_command="in-target apt-get install --purge -y sysvinit-core"
-

- -

Next, the line to use in a preseed file:

- -

-d-i preseed/late_command string in-target apt-get install -y sysvinit-core
-

- -

One can of course also do this after the first boot by installing -the sysvinit-core package.

- -

I recommend only using sysvinit if you really need it, as the -sysvinit boot sequence in Debian have several hardware specific bugs -on Linux caused by the fact that it is unpredictable when hardware -devices show up during boot. But on the other hand, the new default -boot system still have a few rough edges I hope will be fixed before -Jessie is released.

- -

Update 2014-11-26: Inspired by -a -blog post by Torsten Glaser, added --purge to the preseed -line.

+ +
24th September 2015
+

When I get a new laptop, the battery life time at the start is OK. +But this do not last. The last few laptops gave me a feeling that +within a year, the life time is just a fraction of what it used to be, +and it slowly become painful to use the laptop without power connected +all the time. Because of this, when I got a new Thinkpad X230 laptop +about two years ago, I decided to monitor its battery state to have +more hard facts when the battery started to fail.

+ + + +

First I tried to find a sensible Debian package to record the +battery status, assuming that this must be a problem already handled +by someone else. I found +battery-stats, +which collects statistics from the battery, but it was completely +broken. I sent a few suggestions to the maintainer, but decided to +write my own collector as a shell script while I waited for feedback +from him. Via +a +blog post about the battery development on a MacBook Air I also +discovered +batlog, not +available in Debian.

+ +

I started my collector 2013-07-15, and it has been collecting +battery stats ever since. Now my +/var/log/hjemmenett-battery-status.log file contain around 115,000 +measurements, from the time the battery was working great until now, +when it is unable to charge above 7% of original capacity. My +collector shell script is quite simple and look like this:

+ +
+#!/bin/sh
+# Inspired by
+# http://www.ifweassume.com/2013/08/the-de-evolution-of-my-laptop-battery.html
+# See also
+# http://blog.sleeplessbeastie.eu/2013/01/02/debian-how-to-monitor-battery-capacity/
+logfile=/var/log/hjemmenett-battery-status.log
+
+files="manufacturer model_name technology serial_number \
+    energy_full energy_full_design energy_now cycle_count status"
+
+if [ ! -e "$logfile" ] ; then
+    (
+	printf "timestamp,"
+	for f in $files; do
+	    printf "%s," $f
+	done
+	echo
+    ) > "$logfile"
+fi
+
+log_battery() {
+    # Print complete message in one echo call, to avoid race condition
+    # when several log processes run in parallel.
+    msg=$(printf "%s," $(date +%s); \
+	for f in $files; do \
+	    printf "%s," $(cat $f); \
+	done)
+    echo "$msg"
+}
+
+cd /sys/class/power_supply
+
+for bat in BAT*; do
+    (cd $bat && log_battery >> "$logfile")
+done
+
+ +

The script is called when the power management system detect a +change in the power status (power plug in or out), and when going into +and out of hibernation and suspend. In addition, it collect a value +every 10 minutes. This make it possible for me know when the battery +is discharging, charging and how the maximum charge change over time. +The code for the Debian package +is now +available on github.

+ +

The collected log file look like this:

+ +
+timestamp,manufacturer,model_name,technology,serial_number,energy_full,energy_full_design,energy_now,cycle_count,status,
+1376591133,LGC,45N1025,Li-ion,974,62800000,62160000,39050000,0,Discharging,
+[...]
+1443090528,LGC,45N1025,Li-ion,974,4900000,62160000,4900000,0,Full,
+1443090601,LGC,45N1025,Li-ion,974,4900000,62160000,4900000,0,Full,
+
+ +

I wrote a small script to create a graph of the charge development +over time. This graph depicted above show the slow death of my laptop +battery.

+ +

But why is this happening? Why are my laptop batteries always +dying in a year or two, while the batteries of space probes and +satellites keep working year after year. If we are to believe +Battery +University, the cause is me charging the battery whenever I have a +chance, and the fix is to not charge the Lithium-ion batteries to 100% +all the time, but to stay below 90% of full charge most of the time. +I've been told that the Tesla electric cars +limit +the charge of their batteries to 80%, with the option to charge to +100% when preparing for a longer trip (not that I would want a car +like Tesla where rights to privacy is abandoned, but that is another +story), which I guess is the option we should have for laptops on +Linux too.

+ +

Is there a good and generic way with Linux to tell the battery to +stop charging at 80%, unless requested to charge to 100% once in +preparation for a longer trip? I found +one +recipe on askubuntu for Ubuntu to limit charging on Thinkpad to +80%, but could not get it to work (kernel module refused to +load).

+ +

I wonder why the battery capacity was reported to be more than 100% +at the start. I also wonder why the "full capacity" increases some +times, and if it is possible to repeat the process to get the battery +back to design capacity. And I wonder if the discharge and charge +speed change over time, or if this stay the same. I did not yet try +to write a tool to calculate the derivative values of the battery +level, but suspect some interesting insights might be learned from +those.

+ +

Update 2015-09-24: I got a tip to install the packages +acpi-call-dkms and tlp (unfortunately missing in Debian stable) +packages instead of the tp-smapi-dkms package I had tried to use +initially, and use 'tlp setcharge 40 80' to change when charging start +and stop. I've done so now, but expect my existing battery is toast +and need to be replaced. The proposal is unfortunately Thinkpad +specific.

- Tags: bootsystem, debian, english. + Tags: debian, english.
@@ -312,75 +298,56 @@ line.

- -
16th November 2014
-

For en stund tilbake spurte jeg Fornyingsdepartementet om hvilke -juridiske vurderinger rundt patentproblemstillingen som var gjort da -H.264 ble tatt inn i statens -referansekatalog over standarder. Stig Hornnes i FAD tipset meg -om følgende som står i oppsumeringen til høringen om -referansekatalogen versjon 2.0, som jeg siden ved hjelp av en -innsynsforespørsel fikk tak i -PDF-utgaven av -datert 2009-06-03 (saksnummer 200803291, saksbehandler Henrik -Linnestad).

- -

Der står det følgende om problemstillingen:

- -

-4.4 Patentproblematikk - -

NUUG og Opera ser det som særlig viktig at forslagene knyttet til -lyd og video baserer seg på de royalty-frie standardene Vorbis, Theora -og FLAC.

- -

Kommentarene relaterer seg til at enkelte standarder er åpne, men -inneholder tekniske prosedyrer som det i USA (og noen andre land som -Japan) er gitt patentrettigheter til. I vårt tilfelle berører dette -spesielt standardene Mp3 og H.264, selv om Politidirektoratet peker på -at det muligens kan være tilsvarende problematikk også for Theora og -Vorbis. Dette medfører at det i USA kan kreves royalties for bruk av -tekniske løsninger knyttet til standardene, et krav som også -håndheves. Patenter kan imidlertid bare hevdes i de landene hvor -patentet er gitt, så amerikanske patenter gjelder ikke andre steder -enn USA.

- -

Spesielt for utvikling av fri programvare er patenter -problematisk. GPL, en "grunnleggende" lisens for distribusjon av fri -programvare, avviser at programvare kan distribueres under denne -lisensen hvis det inneholder referanser til patenterte rutiner som -utløser krav om royalties. Det er imidlertid uproblematisk å -distribuere fri programvareløsninger under GPL som benytter de -aktuelle standardene innen eller mellom land som ikke anerkjenner -patentene. Derfor finner vi også flere implementeringer av Mp3 og -H.264 som er fri programvare, lisensiert under GPL.

- -

I Norge og EU er patentlovgivningen langt mer restriktiv enn i USA, -men det er også her mulig å få patentert metoder for løsning av et -problem som relaterer seg til databehandling. Det er AIF bekjent ikke -relevante patenter i EU eller Norge hva gjelder H.264 og Mp3, men -muligheten for at det finnes patenter uten at det er gjort krav om -royalties eller at det senere vil gis slike patenter kan ikke helt -avvises.

- -

AIF mener det er et behov for å gi offentlige virksomheter mulighet -til å benytte antatt royaltyfrie åpne standarder som et likeverdig -alternativ eller i tillegg til de markedsledende åpne standardene.

- -

- -

Det ser dermed ikke ut til at de har vurdert patentspørsmålet i -sammenheng med opphavsrettsvilkår slik de er formulert for f.eks. -Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid og Sorenson-verktøyene, -der det kreves brukstillatelse for patenter som ikke er gyldige i -Norge for å bruke disse verktøyene til annet en personlig og ikke -kommersiell aktivitet når det gjelder H.264-video. Jeg må nok lete -videre etter svar på det spørsmålet.

+ +
3rd September 2015
+

Creating a good looking book cover proved harder than I expected. +I wanted to create a cover looking similar to the original cover of +the +Free +Culture book we are translating to Norwegian, and I wanted it in +vector format for high resolution printing. But my inkscape knowledge +were not nearly good enough to pull that off. + +

But thanks to the great inkscape community, I was able to wrap up +the cover yesterday evening. I asked on the +#inkscape IRC channel +on Freenode for help and clues, and Marc Jeanmougin (Mc-) volunteered +to try to recreate it based on the PDF of the cover from the HTML +version. Not only did he create a +SVG document with +the original and his vector version side by side, he even provided +an instruction +video explaining how he did it. But the instruction video is +not easy to follow for an untrained inkscape user. The video is a +recording on how he did it, and he is obviously very experienced as +the menu selections are very quick and he mentioned on IRC that he did +use some keyboard shortcuts that can't be seen on the video, but it +give a good idea about the inkscape operations to use to create the +stripes with the embossed copyright sign in the center.

+ +

I took his SVG file, copied the vector image and re-sized it to fit +on the cover I was drawing. I am happy with the end result, and the +current english version look like this:

+ + + +

I am not quite sure about the text on the back, but guess it will +do. I picked three quotes from the official site for the book, and +hope it will work to trigger the interest of potential readers. The +Norwegian cover will look the same, but with the texts and bar code +replaced with the Norwegian version.

+ +

The book is very close to being ready for publication, and I expect +to upload the final draft to Lulu in the next few days and order a +final proof reading copy to verify that everything look like it should +before allowing everyone to order their own copy of Free Culture, in +English or Norwegian Bokmål. I'm waiting to give the the productive +proof readers a chance to complete their work.

@@ -388,81 +355,37 @@ videre etter svar på det spørsmålet.

- -
10th November 2014
-

The right to communicate with your friends and family in private, -without anyone snooping, is a right every citicen have in a liberal -democracy. But this right is under serious attack these days.

- -

A while back it occurred to me that one way to make the dragnet -surveillance conducted by NSA, GCHQ, FRA and others (and confirmed by -the whisleblower Snowden) more expensive for Internet email, -is to deliver all email using SMTP via Tor. Such SMTP option would be -a nice addition to the FreedomBox project if we could send email -between FreedomBox machines without leaking metadata about the emails -to the people peeking on the wire. I -proposed -this on the FreedomBox project mailing list in October and got a -lot of useful feedback and suggestions. It also became obvious to me -that this was not a novel idea, as the same idea was tested and -documented by Johannes Berg as early as 2006, and both -the -Mailpile and the Cables systems -propose a similar method / protocol to pass emails between users.

- -

To implement such system one need to set up a Tor hidden service -providing the SMTP protocol on port 25, and use email addresses -looking like username@hidden-service-name.onion. With such addresses -the connections to port 25 on hidden-service-name.onion using Tor will -go to the correct SMTP server. To do this, one need to configure the -Tor daemon to provide the hidden service and the mail server to accept -emails for this .onion domain. To learn more about Exim configuration -in Debian and test the design provided by Johannes Berg in his FAQ, I -set out yesterday to create a Debian package for making it trivial to -set up such SMTP over Tor service based on Debian. Getting it to work -were fairly easy, and -the -source code for the Debian package is available from github. I -plan to move it into Debian if further testing prove this to be a -useful approach.

- -

If you want to test this, set up a blank Debian machine without any -mail system installed (or run apt-get purge exim4-config to -get rid of exim4). Install tor, clone the git repository mentioned -above, build the deb and install it on the machine. Next, run -/usr/lib/exim4-smtorp/setup-exim-hidden-service and follow -the instructions to get the service up and running. Restart tor and -exim when it is done, and test mail delivery using swaks like -this:

- -

-torsocks swaks --server dutlqrrmjhtfa3vp.onion \
-  --to fbx@dutlqrrmjhtfa3vp.onion
-

- -

This will test the SMTP delivery using tor. Replace the email -address with your own address to test your server. :)

- -

The setup procedure is still to complex, and I hope it can be made -easier and more automatic. Especially the tor setup need more work. -Also, the package include a tor-smtp tool written in C, but its task -should probably be rewritten in some script language to make the deb -architecture independent. It would probably also make the code easier -to review. The tor-smtp tool currently need to listen on a socket for -exim to talk to it and is started using xinetd. It would be better if -no daemon and no socket is needed. I suspect it is possible to get -exim to run a command line tool for delivery instead of talking to a -socket, and hope to figure out how in a future version of this -system.

- -

Until I wipe my test machine, I can be reached using the -fbx@dutlqrrmjhtfa3vp.onion mail address, deliverable over -SMTorP. :)

+ +
19th August 2015
+

Today, finally, my first printed draft edition of the Norwegian +translation of Free Culture I have been working on for the last few +years arrived in the mail. I had to fake a cover to get the interior +printed, and the exterior of the book look awful, but that is +irrelevant at this point. I asked for a printed pocket book version +to get an idea about the font sizes and paper format as well as how +good the figures and images look in print, but also to test what the +pocket book version would look like. After receiving the 500 page +pocket book, it became obvious to me that that pocket book size is too +small for this book. I believe the book is too thick, and several +tables and figures do not look good in the size they get with that +small page sizes. I believe I will go with the 5.5x8.5 inch size +instead. A surprise discovery from the paper version was how bad the +URLs look in print. They are very hard to read in the colophon page. +The URLs are red in the PDF, but light gray on paper. I need to +change the color of links somehow to look better. But there is a +printed book in my hand, and it feels great. :)

+ +

Now I only need to fix the cover, wrap up the postscript with the +store behind the book, and collect the last corrections from the proof +readers before the book is ready for proper printing. Cover artists +willing to work for free and create a Creative Commons licensed vector +file looking similar to the original is most welcome, as my skills as +a graphics designer are mostly missing.

@@ -470,192 +393,68 @@ SMTorP. :)

- -
27th October 2014
-

I am happy to report that I on behalf of the Debian Edu team just -sent out -this -announcement:

- -
-The Debian Edu Team is pleased to announce the release of Debian Edu
-Jessie 8.0+edu0~alpha0
-
-Debian Edu is a complete operating system for schools. Through its
-various installation profiles you can install servers, workstations
-and laptops which will work together on the school network. With
-Debian Edu, the teachers themselves or their technical support can
-roll out a complete multi-user multi-machine study environment within
-hours or a few days. Debian Edu comes with hundreds of applications
-pre-installed, but you can always add more packages from Debian.
-
-For those who want to give Debian Edu Jessie a try, download and
-installation instructions are available, including detailed
-instructions in the manual[1] explaining the first steps, such as
-setting up a network or adding users. Please note that the password
-for the user your prompted for during installation must have a length
-of at least 5 characters!
-
- [1] <URL: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie >
-
-Would you like to give your school's computer a longer life? Are you
-tired of sneaker administration, running from computer to computer
-reinstalling the operating system? Would you like to administrate all
-the computers in your school using only a couple of hours every week?
-Check out Debian Edu Jessie!
-
-Skolelinux is used by at least two hundred schools all over the world,
-mostly in Germany and Norway.
-
-About Debian Edu and Skolelinux
-===============================
-
-Debian Edu, also known as Skolelinux[2], is a Linux distribution based
-on Debian providing an out-of-the box environment of a completely
-configured school network. Immediately after installation a school
-server running all services needed for a school network is set up just
-waiting for users and machines being added via GOsa², a comfortable
-Web-UI. A netbooting environment is prepared using PXE, so after
-initial installation of the main server from CD or USB stick all other
-machines can be installed via the network.  The provided school server
-provides LDAP database and Kerberos authentication service,
-centralized home directories, DHCP server, web proxy and many other
-services.  The desktop contains more than 60 educational software
-packages[3] and more are available from the Debian archive, and
-schools can choose between KDE, Gnome, LXDE, Xfce and MATE desktop
-environment.
-
- [2] <URL: http://www.skolelinux.org/ >
- [3] <URL: http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Educational_applications_included_in_Debian_Edu___Skolelinux__the_screenshot_collection____.html >
-
-Full release notes and manual
-=============================
-
-Below the download URLs there is a list of some of the new features
-and bugfixes of Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~alpha0 Codename Jessie. The full
-list is part of the manual. (See the feature list in the manual[4] for
-the English version.) For some languages manual translations are
-available, see the manual translation overview[5].
-
- [4] <URL: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Documentation/Jessie/Features >
- [5] <URL: http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/ >
-
-Where to get it
----------------
-
-To download the multiarch netinstall CD release (624 MiB) you can use
-
- * ftp://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso
- * http://ftp.skolelinux.org/skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso
- * rsync -avzP ftp.skolelinux.org::skolelinux-cd/debian-edu-8.0+edu0~alpha0-CD.iso .
-
-The SHA1SUM of this image is: 361188818e036ce67280a572f757de82ebfeb095
-
-New features for Debian Edu 8.0+edu0~alpha0 Codename Jessie released 2014-10-27
-===============================================================================
-
-
-Installation changes
---------------------
-
- * PXE installation now installs firmware automatically for the hardware present.
-
-Software updates
-----------------
-
-Everything which is new in Debian Jessie 8.0, eg:
-
- * Linux kernel 3.16.x
- * Desktop environments KDE "Plasma" 4.11.12, GNOME 3.14, Xfce 4.10,
-   LXDE 0.5.6 and MATE 1.8 (KDE "Plasma" is installed by default; to
-   choose one of the others see manual.)
- * the browsers Iceweasel 31 ESR and Chromium 38 
- * !LibreOffice 4.3.3
- * GOsa 2.7.4
- * LTSP 5.5.4
- * CUPS print system 1.7.5
- * new boot framework: systemd
- * Educational toolbox GCompris 14.07 
- * Music creator Rosegarden 14.02
- * Image editor Gimp 2.8.14
- * Virtual stargazer Stellarium 0.13.0
- * golearn 0.9
- * tuxpaint 0.9.22
- * New version of debian-installer from Debian Jessie.
- * Debian Jessie includes about 42000 packages available for
-   installation.
- * More information about Debian Jessie 8.0 is provided in the release
-   notes[6] and the installation manual[7].
-
- [6] <URL: http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/releasenotes >
- [7] <URL: http://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/installmanual >
-
-Fixed bugs
-----------
-
- * Inserting incorrect DNS information in Gosa will no longer break
-   DNS completely, but instead stop DNS updates until the incorrect
-   information is corrected (Debian bug #710362)
- * and many others.
-
-Documentation and translation updates
-------------------------------------- 
-
- * The Debian Edu Jessie Manual is fully translated to German, French,
-   Italian, Danish and Dutch. Partly translated versions exist for
-   Norwegian Bokmal and Spanish.
-
-Other changes
--------------
-
- * Due to new Squid settings, powering off or rebooting the main
-   server takes more time.
- * To manage printers localhost:631 has to be used, currently www:631
-   doesn't work.
-
-Regressions / known problems
-----------------------------
-
- * Installing LTSP chroot fails with a bug related to eatmydata about
-   exim4-config failing to run its postinst (see Debian bug #765694
-   and Debian bug #762103).
- * Munin collection is not properly configured on clients (Debian bug
-   #764594).  The fix is available in a newer version of munin-node.
- * PXE setup for Main Server and Thin Client Server setup does not
-   work when installing on a machine without direct Internet access.
-   Will be fixed when Debian bug #766960 is fixed in Jessie.
-
-See the status page[8] for the complete list.
-
- [8] <URL: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/Status/Jessie >
-
-How to report bugs
-------------------
-
-<URL: http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEdu/HowTo/ReportBugs >
-
-About Debian
-============
-
-The Debian Project was founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock to be a truly
-free community project. Since then the project has grown to be one of
-the largest and most influential open source projects. Thousands of
-volunteers from all over the world work together to create and
-maintain Debian software. Available in 70 languages, and supporting a
-huge range of computer types, Debian calls itself the universal
-operating system.
-
-Contact Information
-For further information, please visit the Debian web pages[9] or send
-mail to press@debian.org.
-
- [9] <URL: http://www.debian.org/ >
-
+ +
9th August 2015
+

Typesetting a book is harder than I hoped. As the translation is +mostly done, and a volunteer proof reader was going to check the text +on paper, it was time this summer to focus on formatting my translated +docbook based version of the +Free Culture book by Lawrence +Lessig. I've been trying to get both docboox-xsl+fop and dblatex to +give me a good looking PDF, but in the end I went with dblatex, because +its Debian maintainer and upstream developer were responsive and very +helpful in solving my formatting challenges.

+ +

Last night, I finally managed to create a PDF that no longer made +Lulu.com complain after uploading, +and I ordered a text version of the book on paper. It is lacking a +proper book cover and is not tagged with the correct ISBN number, but +should give me an idea what the finished book will look like.

+ +

Instead of using Lulu, I did consider printing the book using +CreateSpace, but ended up +using Lulu because it had smaller book size options (CreateSpace seem +to lack pocket book with extended distribution). I looked for a +similar service in Norway, but have not seen anything so far. Please +let me know if I am missing out on something here.

+ +

But I still struggle to decide the book size. Should I go for +pocket book (4.25x6.875 inches / 10.8x17.5 cm) with 556 pages, Digest +(5.5x8.5 inches / 14x21.6 cm) with 323 pages or US Trade (6x8 inches / +15.3x22.9 cm) with 280 pages? Fewer pager give a cheaper book, and a +smaller book is easier to carry around. The test book I ordered was +pocket book sized, to give me an idea how well that fit in my hand, +but I suspect I will end up using a digest sized book in the end to +bring the prize down further.

+ +

My biggest challenge at the moment is making nice cover art. My +inkscape skills are not yet up to the task of replicating the original +cover in SVG format. I also need to figure out what to write about +the book on the back (will most likely use the same text as the +description on web based book stores). I would love help with this, +if you are willing to license the art source and final version using +the same CC license as the book. My artistic skills are not really up +to the task.

+ +

I plan to publish the book in both English and Norwegian and on +paper, in PDF form as well as EPUB and MOBI format. The current +status can as usual be found on +github +in the archive/ directory. So far I have spent all time on making the +PDF version look good. Someone should probably do the same with the +dbtoepub generated e-book. Help is definitely needed here, as I +expect to run out of steem before I find time to improve the epub +formatting.

+ +

Please let me know via github if you find typos in the book or +discover translations that should be improved. The final proof +reading is being done right now, and I expect to publish the finished +result in a few months.

@@ -663,32 +462,63 @@ mail to press@debian.org.
- -
23rd October 2014
-

I spent last weekend at Makercon -Nordic, a great conference and workshop for makers in Norway and -the surrounding countries. I had volunteered on behalf of the -Norwegian Unix Users Group (NUUG) to video record the talks, and we -had a great and exhausting time recording the entire day, two days in -a row. There were only two of us, Hans-Petter and me, and we used the -regular video equipment for NUUG, with a -dvswitch, a -camera and a VGA to DV convert box, and mixed video and slides -live.

- -

Hans-Petter did the post-processing, consisting of uploading the -around 180 GiB of raw video to Youtube, and the result is -now becoming -public on the MakerConNordic account. The videos have the license -NUUG always use on our recordings, which is -Creative -Commons Navngivelse-Del på samme vilkår 3.0 Norge. Many great -talks available. Check it out! :)

+ +
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: english, nuug, video. + Tags: docbook, english, freeculture.
@@ -696,96 +526,38 @@ talks available. Check it out! :)

- -
22nd October 2014
-

If you ever had to moderate a mailman list, like the ones on -alioth.debian.org, you know the web interface is fairly slow to -operate. First you visit one web page, enter the moderation password -and get a new page shown with a list of all the messages to moderate -and various options for each email address. This take a while for -every list you moderate, and you need to do it regularly to do a good -job as a list moderator. But there is a quick alternative, -the -listadmin program. It allow you to check lists for new messages -to moderate in a fraction of a second. Here is a test run on two -lists I recently took over:

- -

-% time listadmin xiph
-fetching data for pkg-xiph-commits@lists.alioth.debian.org ... nothing in queue
-fetching data for pkg-xiph-maint@lists.alioth.debian.org ... nothing in queue
-
-real    0m1.709s
-user    0m0.232s
-sys     0m0.012s
-%
-

- -

In 1.7 seconds I had checked two mailing lists and confirmed that -there are no message in the moderation queue. Every morning I -currently moderate 68 mailman lists, and it normally take around two -minutes. When I took over the two pkg-xiph lists above a few days -ago, there were 400 emails waiting in the moderator queue. It took me -less than 15 minutes to process them all using the listadmin -program.

- -

If you install -the listadmin -package from Debian and create a file ~/.listadmin.ini -with content like this, the moderation task is a breeze:

- -

-username username@example.org
-spamlevel 23
-default discard
-discard_if_reason "Posting restricted to members only. Remove us from your mail list."
-
-password secret
-adminurl https://{domain}/mailman/admindb/{list}
-mailman-list@lists.example.com
-
-password hidden
-other-list@otherserver.example.org
-

- -

There are other options to set as well. Check the manual page to -learn the details.

- -

If you are forced to moderate lists on a mailman installation where -the SSL certificate is self signed or not properly signed by a -generally accepted signing authority, you can set a environment -variable when calling listadmin to disable SSL verification:

- -

-PERL_LWP_SSL_VERIFY_HOSTNAME=0 listadmin
-

- -

If you want to moderate a subset of the lists you take care of, you -can provide an argument to the listadmin script like I do in the -initial screen dump (the xiph argument). Using an argument, only -lists matching the argument string will be processed. This make it -quick to accept messages if you notice the moderation request in your -email.

- -

Without the listadmin program, I would never be the moderator of 68 -mailing lists, as I simply do not have time to spend on that if the -process was any slower. The listadmin program have saved me hours of -time I could spend elsewhere over the years. It truly is nice free -software.

- -

As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my -activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address -15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b.

- -

Update 2014-10-27: Added missing 'username' statement in -configuration example. Also, I've been told that the -PERL_LWP_SSL_VERIFY_HOSTNAME=0 setting do not work for everyone. Not -sure why.

+ +
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: debian, english. + Tags: norsk, nuug, offentlig innsyn.
@@ -793,114 +565,268 @@ sure why.

- -
17th October 2014
-

When PXE installing laptops with Debian, I often run into the -problem that the WiFi card require some firmware to work properly. -And it has been a pain to fix this using preseeding in Debian. -Normally something more is needed. But thanks to -my isenkram -package and its recent tasksel extension, it has now become easy -to do this using simple preseeding.

- -

The isenkram-cli package provide tasksel tasks which will install -firmware for the hardware found in the machine (actually, requested by -the kernel modules for the hardware). (It can also install user space -programs supporting the hardware detected, but that is not the focus -of this story.)

- -

To get this working in the default installation, two preeseding -values are needed. First, the isenkram-cli package must be installed -into the target chroot (aka the hard drive) before tasksel is executed -in the pkgsel step of the debian-installer system. This is done by -preseeding the base-installer/includes debconf value to include the -isenkram-cli package. The package name is next passed to debootstrap -for installation. With the isenkram-cli package in place, tasksel -will automatically use the isenkram tasks to detect hardware specific -packages for the machine being installed and install them, because -isenkram-cli contain tasksel tasks.

- -

Second, one need to enable the non-free APT repository, because -most firmware unfortunately is non-free. This is done by preseeding -the apt-mirror-setup step. This is unfortunate, but for a lot of -hardware it is the only option in Debian.

- -

The end result is two lines needed in your preseeding file to get -firmware installed automatically by the installer:

- -

-base-installer base-installer/includes string isenkram-cli
-apt-mirror-setup apt-setup/non-free boolean true
-

- -

The current version of isenkram-cli in testing/jessie will install -both firmware and user space packages when using this method. It also -do not work well, so use version 0.15 or later. Installing both -firmware and user space packages might give you a bit more than you -want, so I decided to split the tasksel task in two, one for firmware -and one for user space programs. The firmware task is enabled by -default, while the one for user space programs is not. This split is -implemented in the package currently in unstable.

- -

If you decide to give this a go, please let me know (via email) how -this recipe work for you. :)

- -

So, I bet you are wondering, how can this work. First and -foremost, it work because tasksel is modular, and driven by whatever -files it find in /usr/lib/tasksel/ and /usr/share/tasksel/. So the -isenkram-cli package place two files for tasksel to find. First there -is the task description file (/usr/share/tasksel/descs/isenkram.desc):

- -

-Task: isenkram-packages
-Section: hardware
-Description: Hardware specific packages (autodetected by isenkram)
- Based on the detected hardware various hardware specific packages are
- proposed.
-Test-new-install: show show
-Relevance: 8
-Packages: for-current-hardware
-
-Task: isenkram-firmware
-Section: hardware
-Description: Hardware specific firmware packages (autodetected by isenkram)
- Based on the detected hardware various hardware specific firmware
- packages are proposed.
-Test-new-install: mark show
-Relevance: 8
-Packages: for-current-hardware-firmware
-

- -

The key parts are Test-new-install which indicate how the task -should be handled and the Packages line referencing to a script in -/usr/lib/tasksel/packages/. The scripts use other scripts to get a -list of packages to install. The for-current-hardware-firmware script -look like this to list relevant firmware for the machine: - -

-#!/bin/sh
-#
-PATH=/usr/sbin:$PATH
-export PATH
-isenkram-autoinstall-firmware -l
-

- -

With those two pieces in place, the firmware is installed by -tasksel during the normal d-i run. :)

- -

If you want to test what tasksel will install when isenkram-cli is -installed, run DEBIAN_PRIORITY=critical tasksel --test ---new-install to get the list of packages that tasksel would -install.

- -

Debian Edu will be -pilots in testing this feature, as isenkram is used there now to -install firmware, replacing the earlier scripts.

+ +
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?

@@ -915,6 +841,31 @@ install firmware, replacing the earlier scripts.

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