X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/dfb95fbf632f9da5dc11eed5372f75cdd74da056..3b0edf1279c4f536eaaf8a22e7bd302bec8f869b:/blog/index.html diff --git a/blog/index.html b/blog/index.html index 2cb07235b7..6c7155ff5b 100644 --- a/blog/index.html +++ b/blog/index.html @@ -20,68 +20,108 @@
-
First paper version of the Norwegian Free Culture book heading my way
-
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.

+
Snurpenot-overvåkning av sensitiv personinformasjon
+
9th November 2015
+

Tenk om et norsk sykehus delte informasjon om hva som blir lest og +hvem som leser på sykehusets nettsted, med noen som samarbeider med et +fremmed lands etterretningsvesen, og at flere andre fremmede lands +etterretningstjenester kan snappe opp informasjonen.

+ +

Tenk om flere sykehus, kommuner, helsestasjoner, universitet, +høyskoler, grunnskoler, Stortinget, det meste av offentlig +forvaltning, medier, adopsjonstjenester og krisesenter gjør det +samme?

+ +

Tenk om de som lytter kan holde oversikt over norske borgeres +interesser, sykdommer, rusmisbruk, adopsjon, abort, barnehager, +politiske interesser og sympatier samt hvilke argumenter som har best +effekt på beslutningstagere og måter de kan påvirkes. Ville det gitt +grunn til bekymring?

+ +

Høres det ut som noe tatt ut fra fantasien til George Orwell, +forfatteren av dystopien 1984? Det er virkeligheten i Norge i dag, +takket være bruken av statistikktjenester som Google Analytics.

+ +

Du kan beskytte deg

+ +

Men borgerne har et forsvar mot dette angrepet på privatsfæren. +Dagens nettlesere har utvidelser som støtter å blokkere slik +utlevering av informasjon. Personlig bruker jeg Privacy Badger, +Ghostery, NoScript og AdBlock, og anbefaler alle å gjøre noe +tilsvarende. Merk at noen av verktøyene lekker informasjon, i tillegg +til å gjøre en nyttig jobb, så det er lurt å bruke flere sammen. I +tillegg bør hver og en av oss sende inn protest til organisasjonene +bak nettsteder som bidrar til dette inngrepet i privatsfæren.

+ +

Hvem bidrar til overvåkningen?

+ +

Takket være Ghostery la jeg merke til at flere og flere norske +nettsteder begynte å la Google Analytics overvåke brukerne. Jeg ble +nysgjerrig på hvor mange det gjaldt, og gikk igjennom ca. 2700 norske +nettsteder, hovedsakelig offentlig forvaltning. Jeg laget et system +for å koble seg opp automatisk og sjekke hvor nettstedene spredte +informasjon om besøket. Jeg ble overrasket både over omfanget og hva +slags nettsteder som rapporterer besøksinformasjon ut av landet. +Omtrent 70 prosent av de 2700 sender informasjon til Google Analytics. +Noen tilfeldige eksempler er Akershus Universitetssykehus, Sykehuset +Østfold, Lommelegen, Oslo krisesenter, Stortinget, den norske +regjering, de fleste politiske partier på Stortinget, NAV, Altinn, +NRK, TV2, Helse Førde, Helse Stavanger, Oslo kommune, +Nasjonalbiblioteket, Pasientombudet, Kongehuset, Politiet, +Teknologirådet, Tollvesenet, Norsk romsenter, Forsvarsbygg og +Sivilforsvaret. Og det er mange flere.

+ +

Hvordan kan det offentlige Norge omfavne en slik praksis? Det er +gode hensikter bak. Google har laget en god tjeneste for +nettstedseiere, der de uten å betale med noe annet enn en bit av de +besøkenes privatsfære får tilgang til nyttig og presis statistikk over +nettstedets bruk ved å besøke netttjenesten hos Google. De færreste +merker ulempene angrepet på privatsfæren som nettstedene og Google +utgjør.

+ +

Hvordan foregår det?

+ +

I nettsider kan nettsteder legge inn lenker til programkode som +skal kjøres av brukerens nettleser. De som tar i bruk Google +Analytics legger typisk inn lenke til et javascript-program hos Google +som ber nettleseren ta kontakt med Google og dele IP-adresse, side +besøkt, aktuelle cookies og endel informasjon om nettleseren med +Google Analytics. Programmet trenger ikke være det samme for alle som +henter det fra Google. Det finnes et Google Analytics-tilvalg kalt +«anonymisering» som nettstedeier kan ta i bruk. Dette instruerer det +omtalte programmet om å be Google slette deler av den oversendte +IP-adressen. Full IP-adresse sendes likevel over og er tilgjengelig +for alle som snapper opp informasjonen underveis.

+ +

Takket være varsleren Edward Snowden, som bidro til uvurderlig +dokumentasjon på snurpenot-overvåkningen som nordmenn blir utsatt for, +vet vi at Google samarbeider med USAs etteretning som avlytter trafikk +sendt til Google Analytics.

+ +

Men allerede før Snowden var det bekreftet at både britiske GCHQ og +USAs NSA avlytter og lagrer blant annet Internett-trafikk som er innom +et av landene, i tillegg til at FRA i Sverige avlytter og lagrer +trafikk som passerte grensa til Sverige.

+ +

Og som +Datatilsynet +sa til Dagens Næringsliv i 2013 kunne de vanskelig nekte bruk av +skytjenester som Google Analytics når Norge var bundet av EUs «Safe +Harbour»-avtale med USA. De måtte derfor se bort fra +f.eks. FISAAA-loven (som lar NSA avlytte Internett-trafikk) i sine +vurderinger. Når nå EUs «Safe Harbour»-avtale er underkjent, og det +foreslås å bruke individuell avtalerett mellom selskaper som juridisk +grunnlag for å sende personopplysninger til USA, er det greit å huske +på at FISAA-loven og andre som brukes av USA som grunnlag for +masseovervåkning overstyrer slike avtaler.

+ +

For øvrig burde varsleren Edward Snowden få politisk asyl i +Norge.

- Tags: docbook, english, freeculture. + Tags: norsk, personvern, surveillance.
@@ -89,63 +129,38 @@ 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.

+
TISA - nok en problematisk og hemmelig handelsavtale
+
5th November 2015
+

Norge er aktiv i Trade in Services Agreement-forhandlingene, og +regjeringen forteller at +«TISA +vil sikre norske tjenesteeksportører forutsigbar og +ikke-diskriminerende adgang til utenlandske tjenestemarkeder». +Det er mulig at det stemmer. Men den gjør mye mer enn det. Avtalen +forhandles i hemmelighet, og kun takket være +Wikileaks er +utkast og biter kjent i offentligheten. Det som er blitt kjent er +for eksempel at TISA kan +blokkere +myndigheter fra å kreve bruk av fri programvare i mange +situasjoner, hvilket vil fjerne muligheten vår til å ha kontroll +over egne datasystemer i slike tilfeller. Den kan også +blokkere +Norges mulighet til å holde kontroll med overføring av +personinformasjon ut av landet, hvilket Snowden-bekreftelsene har +dokumentert er svært problematisk. + +

Jeg ble derfor veldig glad da jeg i dag ble tipset i dag om at det +allerede finnes en aktiv organisasjon, +Folkeaksjonen mot +TISA, som jobber for å hindre at Norge signerer på TISA-avtalen. +Her må alle gode krefter jobbe sammen. Jeg skal sende dem litt +penger, og se om jeg har kapasitet til å bidra med mer.

- Tags: docbook, english, freeculture. + Tags: norsk, opphavsrett, personvern.
@@ -153,38 +168,121 @@ book project is located.

-
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.

+
Is Pentagon deciding the Norwegian negotiating position on Internet governance?
+
3rd November 2015
+

In Norway, all government offices are required by law to keep a +list of every document or letter arriving and leaving their offices. +Internal notes should also be documented. The document list (called a mail +journal - "postjournal" in Norwegian) is public information and thanks +to the Norwegian Freedom of Information Act (Offentleglova) the mail +journal is available for everyone. Most offices even publish the mail +journal on their web pages, as PDFs or tables in web pages. The state-level offices even have a shared web based search service (called +Offentlig Elektronisk Postjournal - +OEP) to make it possible to search the entries in the list. Not +all journal entries show up on OEP, and the search service is hard to +use, but OEP does make it easier to find at least some interesting +journal entries .

+ +

In 2012 I came across a document in the mail journal for the +Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications on OEP that +piqued my interest. The title of the document was +"Internet +Governance and how it affects national security" (Norwegian: +"Internet Governance og påvirkning på nasjonal sikkerhet"). The +document date was 2012-05-22, and it was said to be sent from the +"Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations". I asked for a +copy, but my request was rejected with a reference to a legal clause said to authorize them to reject it +(offentleglova § 20, +letter c) and an explanation that the document was exempt because +of foreign policy interests as it contained information related to the +Norwegian negotiating position, negotiating strategies or similar. I +was told the information in the document related to the ongoing +negotiation in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The +explanation made sense to me in early January 2013, as a ITU +conference in Dubay discussing Internet Governance +(World +Conference on International Telecommunications - WCIT-12) had just +ended, +reportedly +in chaos when USA walked out of the negotiations and 25 countries +including Norway refused to sign the new treaty. It seemed +reasonable to believe talks were still going on a few weeks later. +Norway was represented at the ITU meeting by two authorities, the +Norwegian Communications Authority +and the Ministry of +Transport and Communications. This might be the reason the letter +was sent to the ministry. As I was unable to find the document in the +mail journal of any Norwegian UN mission, I asked the ministry who had +sent the document to the ministry, and was told that it was the Deputy +Permanent Representative with the Permanent Mission of Norway in +Geneva.

+ +

Three years later, I was still curious about the content of that +document, and again asked for a copy, believing the negotiation was +over now. This time +I +asked both the Ministry of Transport and Communications as the +receiver and +asked +the Permanent Mission of Norway in Geneva as the sender for a +copy, to see if they both agreed that it should be withheld from the +public. The ministry upheld its rejection quoting the same law +reference as before, while the permanent mission rejected it quoting a +different clause +(offentleglova § 20 +letter b), claiming that they were required to keep the +content of the document from the public because it contained +information given to Norway with the expressed or implied expectation +that the information should not be made public. I asked the permanent +mission for an explanation, and was told that the document contained +an account from a meeting held in the Pentagon for a limited group of NATO +nations where the organiser of the meeting did not intend the content +of the meeting to be publicly known. They explained that giving me a +copy might cause Norway to not get access to similar information in +the future and thus hurt the future foreign interests of Norway. They +also explained that the Permanent Mission of Norway in Geneva was not +the author of the document, they only got a copy of it, and because of +this had not listed it in their mail journal.

+ +

Armed with this +knowledge I asked the Ministry to reconsider and asked who was the +author of the document, now realising that it was not same as the +"sender" according to Ministry of Transport and Communications. The +ministry upheld its rejection but told me the name of the author of +the document. According to +a +government report the author was with the Permanent Mission of +Norway in New York a bit more than a year later (2014-09-22), so I +guessed that might be the office responsible for writing and sending +the report initially and +asked +them for a copy but I was obviously wrong as I was told that the +document was unknown to them and that the author did not work there +when the document was written. Next, I asked the Permanent Mission of +Norway in Geneva and the Foreign Ministry to reconsider and at least +tell me who sent the document to Deputy Permanent Representative with +the Permanent Mission of Norway in Geneva. The Foreign Ministry also +upheld its rejection, but told me that the person sending the document +to Permanent Mission of Norway in Geneva was the defence attaché with +the Norwegian Embassy in Washington. I do not know if this is the +same person as the author of the document.

+ +

If I understand the situation correctly, someone capable of +inviting selected NATO nations to a meeting in Pentagon organised a +meeting where someone representing the Norwegian defence attaché in +Washington attended, and the account from this meeting is interpreted +by the Ministry of Transport and Communications to expose Norways +negotiating position, negotiating strategies and similar regarding the +ITU negotiations on Internet Governance. It is truly amazing what can +be derived from mere meta-data.

+ +

I wonder which NATO countries besides Norway attended this meeting? +And what exactly was said and done at the meeting? Anyone know?

- Tags: norsk, nuug, offentlig innsyn. + Tags: english, offentlig innsyn, opphavsrett, personvern.
@@ -192,268 +290,56 @@ historie.

-
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:

+
New book, "Fri kultur" by @lessig, a Norwegian Bokmål translation of "Free Culture" from 2004
+
31st October 2015
+

People keep asking me where to get the various forms of the book I +published last week, the Norwegian Bokmål edition of Lawrence Lessigs +book Free Culture. It was +published on paper via lulu.com, and is also available in PDF, ePub +and MOBI format. I currently sell the paper edition for self cost +from lulu.com, but might extend the distribution to book stores like +Amazon and Barnes & Noble later. This will double the price and force +me to make a profit from selling the book. Anyway, here are links to +get the book in different formats:

    -
  • 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
      • -
    • + +
  • Buy + paper edition from lulu.com
    • + +
  • Download + PDF, size 7.9 MiB (gratis/free)
    • + +
  • Download + ePub, size 11 MiB (gratis/free)
    • + +
  • Download + MOBI, size 3.8 MiB (gratis/free)
    • +
-

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?

+

Note that the MOBI version have problems with the table of content, +at least with the viewers I have been able to test. And the ePub file +have several problems according to +epubcheck, but seem +to display fine in the viewers I have tested. All the files needed to +create the book in various forms are available from +the +github project page.

+ +

The project got press coverage from the Norwegian IT news site +digi.no. Check out the article +"Vil +åpne politikernes øyne for Creative Commons". + +

I've blogged +about the project as it moved along. The blogs document the translation +progress and insights I had along the way.

- Tags: english, h264, multimedia, opphavsrett, standard, video, web. + Tags: english, freeculture.
@@ -461,62 +347,90 @@ the patents are not valid in Norway?

-
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.

+
Gavebok overlevert Stortinget i dag
+
29th October 2015
+

Like før kl. 11 i dag leverte jeg fem esker med gaveinnpakkede +bøker til Stortinget, for utdeling til alle stortingsrepresentanter. +Det ble etterfulgt av følgende pressemelding. Stor takk til NUUG for +lån av epostliste for å sende ut pressemeldingen.

+ +
+ +

Er opphavsretten for streng, spør ny bok

+ +

I dag kommer boken «Fri +kultur» av Lawrence Lessig ut på norsk. Boken handler om +utviklingen og utvidelsene opphavsretten har hatt de siste 40 årene. +Boken er i dag gitt i gave til alle stortingsrepresentantene. +Oversetter og utgiver Petter Reinholdtsen håper Stortinget vil tenke +seg om to ganger neste gang det er snakk om utvidelse av +opphavsretten.

+ +

Boken forteller om hvordan store medieaktører ved hjelp av +opphavsretten bruker teknologi til å begrense kulturen og kontrollere +kreativiteten. Den er skrevet av stifteren av +Creative Commons, professor +Lawrence Lessig, som for tiden er med i kampen om å bli Demokratenes +presidentkandidat i USA sitt +presidentvalg i 2016. Lessig ble sist omtalt i norske medier da +NRK i høst viste dokumentaren «Kampen for et demokratisk internett» +som også er +tilgjengelig +fra The Internet Archive.

+ +

Boken beskriver hvordan opphavsrettens makt i USA har blitt +betydelig utvidet etter 1974 langs fem kritiske akser: varighet (fra +32 til 95 år), omfang (fra utgivere til alle), rekkevidde (gjelder nå +enhver fremvisning via datamaskin), kontroll (avledede verk er +definert så bredt at i praksis alle nye åndsverk risikerer søksmål fra +en opphavsrettsinnehaver) og til sist maktkonsentrasjon og integrering +av mediebransjen. Den dokumenterer også hvordan medieindustrien har +lyktes med å bruke rettsvesenet til å begrense konkurranse, og i +praksis har skaffet seg vetorett over teknologiske nyvinninger. +Nedlasting av fritt, lovlig og i utgangspunktet gratis materiale +stoppes med tekniske sperrer og lobbyert lovvern av sperrene.

+ +

Utvidelsene illustreres i boken med ulike eksempler. For eksempel +en demonstrasjon av at Walt Disney ville ha blitt ansett som en +opphavsrettspirat dersom han gjorde i dag det han gjorde på +1930-tallet. Boken beskriver hvordan vern av åndsverk er bra, men at +mer vern ikke nødvendigvis er bedre. + +

Petter Reinholdtsen, som sammen med flere frivillige har oversatt +boken på fritiden de siste 3 årene, håper at boken vil gjøre en +forskjell. «Når en vet hvordan opphavsrettens varighet i Norge, uten +opposisjon på Stortinget, ble utvidet nok en gang i mai i fjor, og +hvordan Norges handelspartner USA gjennom de nye handelsavtalene +Trans-Pacific Partnership og Transatlantic Trade and Investment +Partnership +ønsker +å utvide opphavsrettens makt også i andre land, håper jeg at flere +vil spørre: Er det virkelig fornuftig å gjøre de samme utvidelsene i +Norge?», spør han. «Jeg håper boken kan bidra til kunnskap og +forståelse, og kan gi Stortinget et bedre grunnlag til å ta riktige +beslutninger som ivaretar befolkningens og samfunnets interesser i +Norge.»

+ +

Petter Reinholdtsen er en mangeårig fri programvareutvikler som har +vært med på å lage systemer som operativsystemet Debian, IT-løsningen +Skolelinux, borgerportalen FiksGataMi og innsynstjenesten Mimes brønn. +Han forteller han selv har opplevd problemene utvidet varighet, +omfang, rekkevidde og kontroll i opphavsretten medfører og at boken +var en oppvekker. «Jeg håper andre finner boken like interessant som +jeg gjorde. Boken kan +lastes +gratis ned fra github eller +kjøpes +på papir fra lulu.com,» avslutter Reinholdtsen.

+ +
+ +

Så får vi se om det har noen positiv effekt. :)

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: freeculture, norsk.
@@ -524,42 +438,65 @@ thinkpad X models, and provide one year warranty.

-
Time to find a new laptop, as the old one is broken after only two years
-
3rd July 2015
-

My primary work horse laptop is failing, and will need a -replacement soon. The left 5 cm of the screen on my Thinkpad X230 -started flickering yesterday, and I suspect the cause is a broken -cable, as changing the angle of the screen some times get rid of the -flickering.

- -

My requirements have not really changed since I bought it, and is -still as -I -described them in 2013. The last time I bought a laptop, I had -good help from -prisjakt.no -where I could select at least a few of the requirements (mouse pin, -wifi, weight) and go through the rest manually. Three button mouse -and a good keyboard is not available as an option, and all the three -laptop models proposed today (Thinkpad X240, HP EliteBook 820 G1 and -G2) lack three mouse buttons). It is also unclear to me how good the -keyboard on the HP EliteBooks are. I hope Lenovo have not messed up -the keyboard, even if the quality and robustness in the X series have -deteriorated since X41.

- -

I wonder how I can find a sensible laptop when none of the options -seem sensible to me? Are there better services around to search the -set of available laptops for features? Please send me an email if you -have suggestions.

- -

Update 2015-07-23: I got a suggestion to check out the FSF -list -of endorsed hardware, which is useful background information.

+
"Fri kultur" av @lessig - norsk utgave av "Free Culture" tilgjengelig på papir, PDF og ePub
+
28th October 2015
+

Klikk her for å kjøpe boken.

+ +

I 2004, mens Creative +Commons-bevegelsen vokste frem, skrev bevegelsens stifter Lawrence +Lessig boken +Free +Culture for å forklare problemene med økene åndsverksregulering og +for å foreslå noen løsninger. Jeg leste boken den gangen, og den både +inspirerte meg og endret på hvordan jeg så på opphavsrettslovigving. +Jeg skulle ønske flere folk leste denne boken. Den gir en god +gjennomgang av hvordan økende åndsverksregulering skader både +nyskapning og kulturlivet, og skisserer hvordan både lovgivere og oss +vanlige borgere kan bidra for å få slutt på dette.

+ +

Derfor bestemte jeg meg sommeren 2012 for å oversette den til norsk +bokmål og gjøre den tilgjengelig for de blant mine venner og familie +som foretrekker å lese bøker på norsk. Jeg oversatte boken ved hjelp +av docbook og en gettext PO-fil, og endte opp med to utgaver, en på +norsk og en på engelsk. Den engelske publiserte jeg i forrige uke, og +den norske utgaven på papir +er +nå klar for salg. Jeg fikk heldigvis hjelp med oversetting og +korrekturlesing av den norske utgaven fra en rekke frivillige. Se +side 245 for en komplett liste. Slik ser omslaget ut: + +

+ +

I tillegg til den norske og engelske utgaven holder vi på med en +fransk utgave. Den koordineres av dblatex-utvikleren Benoît Guillon, +og oversettelsen var komplett denne uka men må korrekturleses før den +kan gis ut. Flere frivillige trengs her, så ta kontakt med Benoît +hvis du vil bidra.

+ +

Boken er også tilgjengelig i PDF, ePub og MOBI-format fra +min +github-prosjektside. Merk at ePub og MOBI-utgavene har noen +formatteringsproblemer som jeg tror kommer av feil i docbook-verktøyet +dbtoepub (Debian BTS-rapporter +#795842 +og +#796871), +men jeg har ikke tatt meg tid til å undersøke problemene. For de som +vil ha elektronisk kopi anbefaler jeg å bruke PDF- og ePub-utgaven i +denne omgang, da de ser ut til å hånderes bra av de fremviserne jeg +har tilgjengelig.

+ +

Etter at oversettelsen til bokmål var ferdig klarte jeg å overtale +NUUG Foundation til å +sponse trykking av boken. Det er årsaken til at stiftelsens logo er +på baksiden av omslaget. Jeg er svært takknemlig for dette, og bruker +bidraget til å gi en kopi av den norske utgaven til alle +Stortingsrepresentanter og andre beslutningstakere her i Norge.

- Tags: debian, english. + Tags: docbook, freeculture, norsk.
@@ -567,82 +504,65 @@ of endorsed hardware, which is useful background information.

-
MakerCon Nordic videos now available on Frikanalen
-
2nd July 2015
-

Last oktober I was involved on behalf of -NUUG with recording the talks at -MakerCon Nordic, a conference for -the Maker movement. Since then it has been the plan to publish the -recordings on Frikanalen, which -finally happened the last few days. A few talks are missing because -the speakers asked the organizers to not publish them, but most of the -talks are available. The talks are being broadcasted on RiksTV -channel 50 and using multicast on Uninett, as well as being available -from the Frikanalen web site. The unedited recordings are -available on -Youtube too.

- -

This is the list of talks available at the moment. Visit the -Frikanalen video -pages to view them.

- -
    - -
  • Evolutionary algorithms as a design tool - from art - to robotics (Kyrre Glette)
    • - -
  • Make and break (Hans Gerhard Meier)
    • - -
  • Making a one year school course for young makers - (Olav Helland)
    • - -
  • Innovation Inspiration - IPR Databases as a Source of - Inspiration (Hege Langlo)
    • - -
  • Making a toy for makers (Erik Torstensson)
    • - -
  • How to make 3D printer electronics (Elias Bakken)
    • - -
  • Hovering Clouds: Looking at online tool offerings for Product - Design and 3D Printing (William Kempton)
    • - -
  • Travelling maker stories (Øyvind Nydal Dahl)
    • - -
  • Making the first Maker Faire in Sweden (Nils Olander)
    • - -
  • Breaking the mold: Printing 1000’s of parts (Espen Sivertsen)
    • - -
  • Ultimaker — and open source 3D printing (Erik de Bruijn)
    • - -
  • Autodesk’s 3D Printing Platform: Sparking innovation (Hilde - Sevens)
    • - -
  • How Making is Changing the World – and How You Can Too! - (Jennifer Turliuk)
    • - -
  • Open-Source Adventuring: OpenROV, OpenExplorer and the Future of - Connected Exploration (David Lang)
    • - -
  • Making in Norway (Haakon Karlsen Jr., Graham Hayward and Jens - Dyvik)
    • - -
  • The Impact of the Maker Movement (Mike Senese)
    • - -
- -

Part of the reason this took so long was that the scripts NUUG had -to prepare a recording for publication were five years old and no -longer worked with the current video processing tools (command line -argument changes). In addition, we needed better audio normalization, -which sent me on a detour to -package -bs1770gain for Debian. Now this is in place and it became a lot -easier to publish NUUG videos on Frikanalen.

+
"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 very moved 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: english, frikanalen, multimedia, video. + Tags: docbook, english, freeculture.
@@ -650,125 +570,35 @@ easier to publish NUUG videos on Frikanalen.

-
Hvem fører Medietilsynet tilsyn med?
-
28th June 2015
-

I en global verden med eierskap på tvers, trengs det informasjon om -hvem som har kontrollen i selskaper og bedrifter. Og for å få tilgang -til slik informasjon for alle som ønsker å analysere eierskap, holder -med ikke med nasjonale databaser over eierskap, det må globale -samledatabaser med åpne data til. Heldigvis finnes det en -internasjonal bevegelse for å gjøre selskapsinformasjon for alle land -offentlig tilgjengelig. En slik database heter -OpenCorporates, der -informasjonen er gratis tilgjengelig med en "del på samme -vilkår"-lisens. De samler inn selskapsinformasjon, eierskap, -konsesjonstildelinger og lignende. De manglet ganske mye for Norge, -da bruksvilkårene til Norsk offentlig informasjon i stor grad -blokkerer OpenCorporates fra å samle den inn.

- -

Men jeg er jo involvert i -Frikanalen, som har -TV-konsesjon, og tenkte det kunne være fint om informasjon om alle -mediakonsesjoner var tilgjengelig i OpenCorporates, så jeg sendte -avgårde følgende spørsmål til Medietilsynet 2015-06-22:

- -
-

Hei. Finnes det en oversikt over enhetene som Mediatilsynet fører -tilsyn med som åpne data? Jeg lette etter den på -<URL:http://data.norge.no/> og -<URL:http://hotell.difi.no/> uten å -finne noe der, og fant heller ikke noe under -<URL:http://www.medietilsynet.no/>.

- -

Jeg tenker på alle som har fått kringkastingskonsesjon og alle som -er omtalt under -<URL:http://www.medietilsynet.no/mediebildet/>.

- -

Jeg skulle gjerne hatt dette maskinlesbart, og inkludert -organisasjonsnummer og hva slags forhold mediatilsynet har til -organisasjonene. Tanken er å importere det i -<URL:https://opencorporates.com/> for analyse, så det bør ikke ha -bruksbegresninger som gjør dette umulig.

-
- -

To dager senere fikk jeg svar, med de datasettene de hadde -tilgjengelig. Svaret fra Hanne Sekkelsten hos Medietilsynet var -informativt og imøtekommende.

- -
-

Vi viser til din e-post av 22. juni, der du ber om å få tilsendt oversikter -over aktører Medietilsynet fører tilsyn med.

- -

Medietilsynet fører tilsyn med kringkastere og audiovisuelle -bestillingstjenester som omfattes av kringkastingsloven, og med -eierskap i aviser, fjernsyn radio og elektroniske medier etter -medieeierskapsloven. I tillegg vil Medietilsynet etter at -beskyttelsesloven trer i kraft fra 1. juli ha tilsyn med en rekke nye -aktører. Nærmere informasjon om den nye loven finnes på Medietilsynets -nettsted, her: -http://www.medietilsynet.no/mediebransjen/bildeprogramloven/ -. Vi har ikke utarbeidet oversikter over alle aktørene, men vi sender -deg her de listene vi har utarbeidet, hentet fra våre databaser. Vi -har dessverre ikke ferdige rapporter som inneholder -organisasjonsnummer. Dersom du ønsker flere opplysninger ber vi om at -du tar kontakt med oss slik at vi kan finne ut av hvilke opplysninger -du trenger, og hvilke vi kan fremskaffe.

- -

Vedlagt følger: - -

    - -
  • Konsesjoner - lokalradio FM pr. 31.12.2014 [PDF (original)]
    • - -
  • Konsesjoner - lokalfjernsyn i det digitale bakkenettet for fjernsyn, pr. mars 2015 [DOCX (original), -PDF]
    • - -
  • Konsesjoner - DAB-radio, status mars 2015 [XPS (original), -PDF]
    • - -
  • Registreringspliktige kringkastere - status mars 2015: [XPS (original), PDF] - -
      -
    • Kabelsendt fjernsyn -
    • Satellittsendt fjernsyn -
    • Nett-tv -
    • Kabelsendt radio -
    • Satellittsendt radio -
    • Nett-radio -
    • -
- -

Vi må ta forbehold om at det kan være enkelte feil i oversiktene -siden disse ikke er oppdaterte pr. dags dato. Vi vil foreta nye -oppdateringer i august.

- -

Med hilsen

- -

Hanne Nistad Sekkelsten -
Seniorrådgiver | Senior Legal Adviser -
Medietilsynet | Norwegian Media Authority -
A: Nygata 4, NO-1607 Fredrikstad -
T: [telefonnummer fjernet] -
E: [adresse fjernet] | W: www.medietilsynet.no -

-
- -

Desverre er formatene for ustrukturerte til maskinell behandling og -mangler endel informasjon, men det er gode oversikter over hvem -Medietilsynet fører tilsyn med. Filene er på formatene PDF, XPS -(XML-basert PDF-lignende format fra Microsoft) og DOCX, så det vil -være en stor jobb å strukturere informasjonen på en måte som kan -importeres i OpenCorporates. Svaret er ikke i tråd med -Forskrift -om IT-standarder i offentlig forvaltning som sier epostvedlegg -skal sendes som PDF, så jeg har gjorde PDF-utgaver av XPS og -DOCX-utgavene tilgjengelig for å gjøre det enklere for alle å se -innholdet.

+
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: norsk, offentlig innsyn. + Tags: bitcoin, norsk.
@@ -776,79 +606,34 @@ innholdet.

-
Graphing the Norwegian company ownership structure
-
15th June 2015
-

It is a bit work to figure out the ownership structure of companies -in Norway. The information is publicly available, but one need to -recursively look up ownership for all owners to figure out the complete -ownership graph of a given set of companies. To save me the work in -the future, I wrote a script to do this automatically, outputting the -ownership structure using the Graphviz/dotty format. The data source -is web scraping from Proff, because -I failed to find a useful source directly from the official keepers of -the ownership data, Brønnøysundsregistrene.

- -

To get an ownership graph for a set of companies, fetch -the code from git and run it using the organisation number. I'm -using the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet as an example here, as its -ownership structure is very simple:

- -
-% time ./bin/eierskap-dotty 958033540 > dagbladet.dot
-
-real    0m2.841s
-user    0m0.184s
-sys     0m0.036s
-%
-
- -

The script accept several organisation numbers on the command line, -allowing a cluster of companies to be graphed in the same image. The -resulting dot file for the example above look like this. The edges -are labeled with the ownership percentage, and the nodes uses the -organisation number as their name and the name as the label:

- -
-digraph ownership {
-rankdir = LR;
-"Aller Holding A/s" -> "910119877" [label="100%"]
-"910119877" -> "998689015" [label="100%"]
-"998689015" -> "958033540" [label="99%"]
-"974530600" -> "958033540" [label="1%"]
-"958033540" [label="AS DAGBLADET"]
-"998689015" [label="Berner Media Holding AS"]
-"974530600" [label="Dagbladets Stiftelse"]
-"910119877" [label="Aller Media AS"]
-}
-
- -

To view the ownership graph, run "dotty dagbladet.dot" or -convert it to a PNG using "dot -T png dagbladet.dot > -dagbladet.png". The result can be seen below:

- - - -

Note that I suspect the "Aller Holding A/S" entry to be incorrect -data in the official ownership register, as that name is not -registered in the official company register for Norway. The ownership -register is sensitive to typos and there seem to be no strict checking -of the ownership links.

- -

Let me know if you improve the script or find better data sources. -The code is licensed according to GPL 2 or newer.

- -

Update 2015-06-15: Since the initial post I've been told that -"Aller -Holding A/S" is a Danish company, which explain why it did not -have a Norwegian organisation number. I've also been told that there -is a web -services API available from Brønnøysundsregistrene, for those -willing to accept the terms or pay the price.

+
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, offentlig innsyn. + Tags: english, personvern, sikkerhet, surveillance.
@@ -856,59 +641,30 @@ willing to accept the terms or pay the price.

-
Measuring and adjusting the loudness of a TV channel using bs1770gain
-
11th June 2015
-

Television loudness is the source of frustration for viewers -everywhere. Some channels are very load, others are less loud, and -ads tend to shout very high to get the attention of the viewers, and -the viewers do not like this. This fact is well known to the TV -channels. See for example the BBC white paper -"Terminology -for loudness and level dBTP, LU, and all that" from 2011 for a -summary of the problem domain. To better address the need for even -loadness, the TV channels got together several years ago to agree on a -new way to measure loudness in digital files as one step in -standardizing loudness. From this came the ITU-R standard BS.1770, -"Algorithms to -measure audio programme loudness and true-peak audio level".

- -

The ITU-R BS.1770 specification describe an algorithm to measure -loadness in LUFS (Loudness Units, referenced to Full Scale). But -having a way to measure is not enough. To get the same loudness -across TV channels, one also need to decide which value to standardize -on. For European TV channels, this was done in the EBU Recommondaton -R128, "Loudness -normalisation and permitted maximum level of audio signals", which -specifies a recommended level of -23 LUFS. In Norway, I have been -told that NRK, TV2, MTG and SBS have decided among themselves to -follow the R128 recommondation for playout from 2016-03-01.

- -

There are free software available to measure and adjust the loudness -level using the LUFS. In Debian, I am aware of a library named -libebur128 -able to measure the loudness and since yesterday morning a new binary -named bs1770gain -capable of both measuring and adjusting was uploaded and is waiting -for NEW processing. I plan to maintain the latter in Debian under the -Debian -multimedia umbrella.

- -

The free software based TV channel I am involved in, -Frikanalen, plan to follow the -R128 recommondation ourself as soon as we can adjust the software to -do so, and the bs1770gain tool seem like a good fit for that part of -the puzzle to measure loudness on new video uploaded to Frikanalen. -Personally, I plan to use bs1770gain to adjust the loudness of videos -I upload to Frikanalen on behalf of the -NUUG member organisation. The program seem to be able to measure -the LUFS value of any media file handled by ffmpeg, but I've only -successfully adjusted the LUFS value of WAV files. I suspect it -should be able to adjust it for all the formats handled by ffmpeg.

+
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, frikanalen, multimedia, video. + Tags: english, opphavsrett.
@@ -940,7 +696,13 @@ should be able to adjust it for all the formats handled by ffmpeg.

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