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Norwegian Broadcasting Sets Up Its Own Tracker

eirikso writes with an interesting story from Norway; the state broadcaster there has decided to put up some of its content on BitTorrent. "The tracker is based on the same OpenTracker software that the Pirate Bay has been using for the last couple of years. By using BitTorrent we can reach our audience with full quality, unencrypted media files. Experience from our early tests show that if we're the best provider of our own content we also gain control of it."

187 comments

  1. Umm... by Jurily · · Score: 5, Funny

    Experience from our early tests show that if we're the best provider of our own content we also gain control of it.

    Did I wake up in a wrong universe or something? People are actually thinking now?

    1. Re:Umm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      No. You are in the right universe.

      Just wait and see what happens to their control when they no longer want to provide something.

    2. Re:Umm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At least one of these "people" are thinking, yes. If only more would start.

    3. Re:Umm... by Jurily · · Score: 1

      Just wait and see what happens to their control when they no longer want to provide something.

      I think they meant "if it's already out there, at least make sure it's good quality". Presumably they know what happens to torrents in general if they're referring to TPB.

    4. Re:Umm... by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      Uhm, they did say unencrypted files.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    5. Re:Umm... by FaxeTheCat · · Score: 5, Informative

      For their (our... it's the state that owns NRK) definition of control is defined on the website http://nrkbeta.no/the-nrkbeta-doctrine/ I think you will find that they have left "the old ways" and actually understand what the new reality is about.

    6. Re:Umm... by BronsCon · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How about an explanation of the translation, since it's already about as concise as it can be.

      Right now, people can get unencrypted, DRM-free, commercial-free files, which (will always) work anywhere, any time, for free.

      People can also get encrypted, DRM-laden, commercial-packed files which (might, if you're lucky) work on certified players, as long as the company that produced the DRM scheme stays in business top operate the DRM servers and the copyright owner doesn't decide to take the work off the market, for an artificially inflated, unfair market price.

      More people will pay for option one, if faced with the choice to do so, than will pay for option two.

      I know I'd pay more for what I'm getting for free now than I will ever pay for what's on store shelves today.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    7. Re:Umm... by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Did I wake up in a wrong universe or something? People are actually thinking now?

      Right universe, wrong country. It's been known to happen these "3rd world countries" that don't have public education systems designed to beat individuality out of people, starting with a morning salute to the flag, and ending in a cease and desist order to the cries of "oh my precious imaginary property!"

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    8. Re:Umm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      People are actually thinking now?

      Yes, they are. But only in Norway. Sorry.

    9. Re:Umm... by Jurily · · Score: 1

      Right universe, wrong country. It's been known to happen these "3rd world countries" that don't have public education systems designed to beat individuality out of people, starting with a morning salute to the flag, and ending in a cease and desist order to the cries of "oh my precious imaginary property!"

      I'll bite. Show me one other country that does this:

      Some weeks ago NRK - Norwegian Broadcasting put up one of the most popular shows in Norway on bittorrent. For free, with no DRM, no country restrictions.

    10. Re:Umm... by poopdeville · · Score: 4, Informative

      Canada

      --
      After all, I am strangely colored.
    11. Re:Umm... by JensLudolf · · Score: 2, Informative

      Right now, people can get unencrypted, DRM-free, commercial-free files, which (will always) work anywhere, any time, for free.

      It's already ad-free, it's tax-funded. IIRC the mandate they're operating under prohibits them from including ads (although they've found a loophole, so some of sports broadcasts are preceeded by "this programme is presented by "). All in all by doing this, they're providing a better service for me, the tax-payer.

    12. Re:Umm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Finland. Our national broadcasting company (YLE) doesn't use BitTorrent but that is just a minor issue. All the shows shown on YLE will be online (for free, no DRM and no country restrictions) the day after they are shown on TV.

    13. Re:Umm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Norway they always think. Here in the US the same old morons are in control. So, unless you moving to Norway, nothing to see here...

    14. Re:Umm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Silly, Canada is a hat not a country.

    15. Re:Umm... by eltaco · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The UK / BBC. Granted, it's not via torrents, but basically all their content is available via their page to watch online. These are restricted to certain regions though.
      Also on a side note, there's a torrent tracker which is dedicated to British TV. Rumours fly, that backroom deals (for instance not distributing content available on DVD) keeps them from legal trouble.

      also, I know that most german TV networks offer their content to watch online (though their TV imho, isn't worth watching).

      I admit, they're not torrenting their data and I don't know how easy it is to make a local copy (afaik the BBC requires you to use their own software iplayer). In the grand scheme of things it's quite a step forward though.

      --
      It's not about fate, it's about character.
      there be no shelter here, the frontline is everywhere!
    16. Re:Umm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      www.abc.net.au springs to mind. Not a torrent, just a plain old webpage, but close enough. Features mp3 downloads of shows and segments and streaming audio (though admittedly some of these streams are in decidedly unfriendly formats).

    17. Re:Umm... by Jurily · · Score: 1

      I admit, they're not torrenting their data and I don't know how easy it is to make a local copy (afaik the BBC requires you to use their own software iplayer).

      Requiring a proprietary player to view the files online doesn't really answer my question about a DRM-free download, now does it?

      I agree, they're mostly keeping up with the times, but still.

    18. Re:Umm... by MrHanky · · Score: 1

      NRK have offered streaming for years, both live and for older content. The main difference now is that bittorrent allows for higher resolution and bit rate than streaming does, and that the streaming is based on shitty Microsoft solutions that depend on either Silverlight or WMV (the user can choose between the two, and WMV works with Mozplugger + mplayer in Linux).

    19. Re:Umm... by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      I was making a blanket statement about media, not just relating to this bone broadcaster, but thank you for pointing that out for those who may not have know.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    20. Re:Umm... by Cormophyte · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It may also mean that they recognize that if they distribute high quality files on bittorrent with a lot of bandwidth behind it (and maybe release it before anyone else has a chance to) that they can eventually slide a quick commercial in there and people will choose their file because they'll have been getting it fast, reliably, and looking great.

    21. Re:Umm... by aliquis · · Score: 1

      I think much of it means that if people get used to getting most tv things they want from them they may not look into other sources, and that way effectively hinder them from getting the stuff they didn't wanted to (or more likely had the right to) share in the first place.

      I would believe most government run television providers to be willing to share their own stuff with everyone for free / for regular obligatory tv fee if there is one.

    22. Re:Umm... by aliquis · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Would had been cool if they had choosen TPB instead of setting up their own tracker though, maybe they could had gotten a category of their own or something such.

      But it would be nice for the people behind TPB to say "well, see, at least NRK gets it .."

    23. Re:Umm... by aliquis · · Score: 1

      I'll bite. Show me one other country that does this:

      Some weeks ago NRK - Norwegian Broadcasting put up one of the most popular shows in Norway on bittorrent. For free, with no DRM, no country restrictions.

      SVT in Sweden? Though not by using a tracker:
      http://svtplay.se/

      For radio:
      http://www.sr.se/webbradio/webbradio.asp?type=live&Id=&BroadcastDate=&IsBlock=

      Other channels:
      http://kanal5.se/web/guest/webbtv
      http://www.tv4.se/replay (I guess, flash doesn't work in my Safari 4 beta. I'd believe tv6 got one to.)

    24. Re:Umm... by Splab · · Score: 1

      Well they are going to use TPB like it or not, that is pretty much the whole point of the defense in the trial - no one knows what tracker a torrent originated at, tpb just tracks them.

    25. Re:Umm... by tapanitarvainen · · Score: 4, Informative

      All the shows shown on YLE will be online (for free, no DRM and no country restrictions) the day after they are shown on TV.

      Not quite everything shown: only their own productions, not foreign stuff they have to buy rights for.

    26. Re:Umm... by Lachlan+Hunt · · Score: 1

      Well they are going to use TPB like it or not, that is pretty much the whole point of the defense in the trial - no one knows what tracker a torrent originated at, tpb just tracks them.

      I think you're a little confused about how it works. The tracker doesn't need to know where the *torrent file* came from to track them.

      TPB won't be tracking these downloads at all, unless someone redistributes edited or newly created .torret files pointing to TPB's tracker. But that won't obviously won't apply to anyone who downloads the torrent files from NRK directly.

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      By reading this signature, you hereby agree with the content of the above comment.
    27. Re:Umm... by IrquiM · · Score: 1

      right universe, wrong country!

      --
      This is blinging
    28. Re:Umm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Umm, no. It's streaming only, no downloads, and many are only available for a while. And yes, there ARE country restrictions on some on them (mostly stuff that contains music, since, surprise, surprise, recording industry leeches strike again).

      Can't hold a candle to what the norvegians are doing.

    29. Re:Umm... by Vintermann · · Score: 1

      The NRK aren't all nice. They want everyone in Norway who owns a TV to pay a mandatory license to them, whether they can receive signals or not. Today the network is digital and encrypted, so there is no technical problem to opting out, but they still think payment should be mandatory.

      I think they even once suggested that everyone with a network card in their computer should pay the license, since they publish stuff on the web. Not sure if they've abandoned that, though.

      But there are some enlightened people in there as well, as this decision (and their use of open source software and consultants!) shows

      --
      xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
    30. Re:Umm... by Vintermann · · Score: 1

      That show ... it's called "Where no one would have thought anyone could live" (that's a line from a well-known folk song here) and features people living far away from such things as roads, electricity, water and human company.

      I don't know. Very warm and cozy show, but might perhaps give a slightly unrepresentative picture of rural Norway!

      --
      xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
    31. Re:Umm... by Inda · · Score: 1

      There's a client that fakes the referer header to something like "Apple iPhone". This allows you to download the vast majority of iPlayer content. I've only had use for it once and I forget the name. I think files downloaded were in MP4. Whichever format it was, I was able to transcode with no problems.

      Their website talked of a cat and mouse game with bytes being swapped by the BBC. The software author seemed to enjoy the game and is winning.

      Happy searching :)

      --
      This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
    32. Re:Umm... by aliquis · · Score: 1

      The point of defence is that whatever they do it's not illegal.

      The point you mention is just to say that "even if we would help with the actual downloads (for people using our tracker) people don't have to have found the other peers over our tracker."
      Together with things like "omg I'm not one of the people running TPB" and so on.

      As Lachlan said TPB tracks users of torrents which points to TPB, which NRKs wont since they will point to NRK instead.

      People obviously can take those torrent files and add TPB as host in them as well I assume, but that won't help with the point I was trying to do.

      Anyway, if you want great distribution by bittorrent I assume the best place to do that is on the biggest tracker.

    33. Re:Umm... by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 1

      ...that don't have public education systems designed to beat individuality out of people...

      Really? On Brazil we have exacty this problem. Here if you think outside the box, you are kicked

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    34. Re:Umm... by pipatron · · Score: 1

      Streaming lowres shows using more or less proprietary players is far from what the parent was asking. NRK did it for years as well. Nobody wants that. This is the only way that they can compete with "piracy".

      --
      c++; /* this makes c bigger but returns the old value */
    35. Re:Umm... by Leafheart · · Score: 1

      Not quite everything shown: only their own productions, not foreign stuff they have to buy rights for.

      Which is expected. Their own products, is their own to do what they please. Foreign products are only licensed, as they should be.

      --
      --- "When you gotta do something wrong. You gotta do it right. (Fighter)"
    36. Re:Umm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      get_iplayer
      With the right extra software installed, it can also save and convert the high-quality streams (iPhone versions are small and not always available). It can also handle downloading ITV's online offerings.

    37. Re:Umm... by olehenning · · Score: 1

      NRK isn't funded with commercials.

    38. Re:Umm... by aliquis · · Score: 1

      They had something called SVT prime or something such to for higher resolution, and what says NRKs will be less "proprietary" than flash or whatever the webpages use?

      It may not be optimal but imho I'm fine with it on webpages to since that way I don't have to download all of it to start watching something and it's easy to navigate.

      I guess it's easier to offer higher quality by bittorrent though.

    39. Re:Umm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      They want everyone in Norway who owns a TV to pay a mandatory license to them, whether they can receive signals or not.

      They might want to, but as of a few weeks ago they cannot demand license-money from TVs not capable of receiving signals. Finally!

    40. Re:Umm... by reashlin · · Score: 1

      I'd be interested in the BBC properly learning what torrenting is and actually incorporating it into the iPlayer.

      I don't mind giving up some bandwidth in exchange for some content free.

    41. Re:Umm... by PMBjornerud · · Score: 1

      Just wait and see what happens to their control when they no longer want to provide something.

      Just why should anyone be allowed control over something they don't want to provide?

      Only a totalitarian government would benefit from controlling content and preventing people from watching what they want.

      --
      I lost my sig.
    42. Re:Umm... by Cormophyte · · Score: 1

      Ahh, it's like american PBS, except completely without commercials instead of having a few commercials between programs?

    43. Re:Umm... by digitalianiseatingbr · · Score: 1

      Not only their own productions. I regularly watch the spanish drama Los Serrano there: http://areena.yle.fi/hae?pid=810385

    44. Re:Umm... by Ihmhi · · Score: 2, Interesting

      We American's don't salute the flag. We pledge allegiance to our flag and everything it represents - not just the nation itself, but its ideals.

      I refused to say the pledge in high school as I'm an Atheist and I object to the "Under God" bit. I stand out of respect, but I don't salute in any way nor do I say the pledge.

      My homeroom teacher was in the Air Force and she really didn't like me for that, especially since I said, "Thank you for your service to this wonderful country that allows me to express my dissent."

    45. Re:Umm... by Ihmhi · · Score: 1

      also, I know that most german TV networks offer their content to watch online (though their TV imho, isn't worth watching).

      I beg to differ. After all, look at the sheer genius of a simple forklift safety video.

    46. Re:Umm... by thebjorn · · Score: 1

      Ahh, it's like american PBS, except completely without commercials instead of having a few commercials between programs?

      Correct. It doesn't have those endless membership drives either ;-)

  2. Somebody catch me... by theGreater · · Score: 4, Funny

    Experience from our early tests show that if we're the best provider of our own content we also gain control of it.

    ... think I'm going to faint.

    1. Re:Somebody catch me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Somebody needs to tag this with suddenoutbreakofcommonsense! Honestly, Actually delivering content smartly instead of stupidly was the answer all along!? Who'd have thunk it!?

    2. Re:Somebody catch me... by eirikso · · Score: 1

      Good idea. I've now tagged the original article with "suddenoutbreakofcommonsense". :-)

    3. Re:Somebody catch me... by icebike · · Score: 1

      By what stretch of the imagination do they gain control of it?
      Do they really think it can't be re-seeded and tracked by other trackers?

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    4. Re:Somebody catch me... by eirikso · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Of course it can. It's out there. We know that. We're not talking COMPLETE control. That's not possible unless you lock down your content in a safe vault. But if you're the best provider people will come to your place to get it. Giving you better control. We're getting traffic FROM the pirate bay on the content that we have released as torrents. Because more people are seeding from our tracker. In general, people don't bother to redistribute as long as we provide unencrypted high quality files.

    5. Re:Somebody catch me... by Darkness404 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because if I want to download a TV show from this Norwegian channel, the first place I would look after knowing that they have good torrents is the website for this Norwegian channel, not TPB. They've finally realized that if they have decent torrents and don't try to control every tiny thing, they will gain lots of respect, viewers, and money.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    6. Re:Somebody catch me... by icebike · · Score: 1

      > gain lots of respect, viewers, and money.

      This presumes its worth watching in the first place.

      As for the "Money" bit, you do realized this is a fully government funded organization don't you?

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    7. Re:Somebody catch me... by Darkness404 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      As for the "Money" bit, you do realized this is a fully government funded organization don't you?

      Yes, but if I was a Norwegian citizen and they asked me to vote on something that would slightly raise taxes to pay for upgrades, new shows, etc, I might actually vote for it because the government in this case is actually using taxpayer money responsibly.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    8. Re:Somebody catch me... by icebike · · Score: 1

      > government in this case is actually using taxpayer money responsibly.

      Ok. Sorry.

      Didn't realize it was the government's job to entertain you.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    9. Re:Somebody catch me... by Darkness404 · · Score: 1

      No, I'm not in favor of state run anything (no state-funded roads, education, etc), but if the majority of people believe it is the government's job then I'd rather get a return on my tax dollars then shipping them off to nowhere where I will never see the results.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    10. Re:Somebody catch me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are kidding right?

    11. Re:Somebody catch me... by timmarhy · · Score: 1

      it's the government's job to fill the needs of the people where private enterprise won't. a TV channel can easily fall into this category.

      --
      If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
    12. Re:Somebody catch me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Roads?!

    13. Re:Somebody catch me... by arkhan_jg · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Unlike the US, TV in the rest of the world fulfills a lot of other purposes - apolitical news, documentaries, education, current affairs as well as entertainment shows that are too high-brow/niche for the commercial channels to bother with.

      Besides, it's not government-run, it's government funded; there's a difference. When TV is used to keep the populace informed, instead of just keeping the population stupified, it helps not to spend 30% of the runtime playing adverts.

      --
      Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
    14. Re:Somebody catch me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good work Eirik!

      Guys, this is one of the people behind it all! :-)

    15. Re:Somebody catch me... by Dustwhisper · · Score: 1

      Errr or not. I'm a Norwegian and I've hated the NRK/Norwegian broadcast licensing fee for years. I own a TV that is only used on my computer, no signal or cable hooked up to it except a monitorcable for my PC and I still have to pay around 330 dollars a year for a channel I never watch, that has the shittiest, most outdated and conservative crap. Luckily new legislation passed by the cultural minister puts my usage (TV as monitor) as an exception and I no longer have to pay it but God has that taken long to get around to fix. Funny shit is for years I did have my tv hooked to cable but as I was registered as a legal resident of my parents house I did not have to pay the licensing fee. Thank God for the nice guys in 0tv and other groups putting out high quality american TV shows on the net so I can watch them on my 50" TV hooked to a computer a year before my country would even consider buying them =) I wouldn't actually mind paying 330 or even 500 dollars a year for a service that let me get any TV show I wanted to my computer =)

    16. Re:Somebody catch me... by IrquiM · · Score: 1

      You don't know how it works in Norway, do you? The public broadcasting network is financed via a licence to own a TV Tuner (and those "the program is brought to you by "). If they need more money, they just ask the government to increase the lincence. It's not related to the tax.

      Oh, and by the way, they've got good quality streaming of their own shows as well, and have had for a time, both old and live.

      --
      This is blinging
    17. Re:Somebody catch me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You realize that unless you havea subscription, your own tags are visible only to you right?

    18. Re:Somebody catch me... by muffen · · Score: 1

      As for the "Money" bit, you do realized this is a fully government funded organization don't you? Yes, but if I was a Norwegian citizen and they asked me to vote on something that would slightly raise taxes to pay for upgrades, new shows, etc, I might actually vote for it because the government in this case is actually using taxpayer money responsibly.

      In Sweden, the state-television (SVT) setup SVT Play not too long ago.
      Last month I started paying the TV License because I found SVT Play to be just excellent, and I feel that it is actually something I am willing to pay for.
      ... and no, I don't have to pay the TV license if I don't want to since I don't actually own a TV.

    19. Re:Somebody catch me... by IdleTime · · Score: 1

      The difference between US and Norwegian television is that here in the US, TV is an endless stream of commercials, briefly interrupted by programming while NRK actually show interesting programming and have a great news division, of the best I have ever seen anywhere.

      --
      If you mod me down, I *will* introduce you to my sister!
    20. Re:Somebody catch me... by bhiestand · · Score: 1

      ... ...

      a...

      apolitical news? You poor, brainwashed pinko socialist. Just the other day I was watching my Fair and Balanced News, and they told me how all you crazy euros watch biased, State-Run News, and how you're being indoctrinated to grow up to be little Stalins. They went on to explain that you watch porn during dinner with your family, the morning cartoons encourage children to get abortions as soon as they can, and honest, fun, violent programs are censored.

      No, sir, I think you are the one being misled.

      I personally fear the day when a political organization controls a major media outlet, channel, or news service. Thank God that can never happen in the Good Ole USA with our free market competition and vigilant citizens.

      --
      SWM seeks new sig for a brief fling
  3. Anybody got the by markov_chain · · Score: 1

    english subtitles?

    --
    Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
    1. Re:Anybody got the by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      bork bork bork bork

    2. Re:Anybody got the by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 1

      english subtitles?

      Sorry, no one is seeding them yet ;)

      --
      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
    3. Re:Anybody got the by Vintermann · · Score: 1

      Which do you want? Shouldn't be too hard for me to translate one, to let you see what it's about.

      How about "Knut and the milkmaid in Hattfjelldal (4:6)"?

      --
      xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
    4. Re:Anybody got the by Vintermann · · Score: 1

      Ok, now you can learn about Knut and his milkmaid in Hattfjelldal.

      http://rapidshare.com/files/207160245/der.ingen.skulle.tru.s07e04.1024x576.h264.NRK.srt

      Just switch the .srt file in the torrent download directory with this one, and vlc at least should be smart enough to pick it up and use it.

      --
      xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
  4. Mind boggling outburst by Saffaya · · Score: 4, Informative

    of common sense:

    "We have provided all the Norwegian subtitle files and if people want to fansub any of the episodes we're more than happy to let you do that. Please let us know in the comments and we'll link to your translations."

    Three cheers for the Norvegians !!!

    1. Re:Mind boggling outburst by quenda · · Score: 1

      "We have provided all the Norwegian subtitle files ..."

      Is there an automated way to translate the Norwegian subs via google or babelfish to engrish subs? Would be better than nothing, and possibly humourous.

    2. Re:Mind boggling outburst by EvilIdler · · Score: 3, Funny

      You won't cheer if anyone subs Pompel & Pilt! I tried, and had to go into therapy for three years after only finishing two of the six episodes.

    3. Re:Mind boggling outburst by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Norwegian is fairly easy to learn for an English Speaker. I found it much easier than Spanish. I've been taking advantage of the fact that NRK has shows available over the internet for some time to supplement my studies.

      Ha det.

    4. Re:Mind boggling outburst by Kashgarinn · · Score: 1

      I don't know why, but I'm grinning like crazy at this news, finally someone gets it.. finally!

      A smiley face is in order :D

  5. War! by Superdarion · · Score: 1

    Will this mean war? Norway vs the EU! nay! against the whole world!

    1. Re:War! by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Will this mean war? Norway vs the EU! nay! against the whole world!

      They have a decent amount of oil & gas, which the EU and others desperately need.
      They also have healthy fish stocks, through fairly competent management of fisheries. The EU regularly howls of unfair competition in fish, as the EU has rapaciously plundered its own stocks, and continues overfishing at destructive levels.

      It's the EU that will cave in, not Norway. Disclaimer: I'm not Norwegian, but did visit there twice (1983 and 1998), and changed plane in Oslo a few times.

      --
      Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
    2. Re:War! by Kjella · · Score: 1

      Will this mean war? Norway vs the EU! nay! against the whole world!

      Meh, they'd just pass a directive - we've passed over 8000 EU directives without being a member already.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    3. Re:War! by arndawg · · Score: 1

      Meh, they'd just pass a directive - we've passed over 9000 EU directives without being a member already.

      Fixed that for you.

    4. Re:War! by javilon · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, I don't know about EU, but USA can perform a "liberation war" on them, under some excuse like "terrorism and kiddie porn". Once they have flattened the country, they can set up a regime that will give their multinationals all rights on oil, gas and fishing. This will be as a compensation on the expenses incurred by the rebuilding effort and paying for deployment of the liberator's army.

      Then, after all is done and nicely set up, they can replace the president and blame everything on the previous one, without returning the people of the "liberated" country the rights to their own natural resources.

      It worked with Iraq.

      --


      When his defense asked, "Which computer has Jon Johansen trespassed upon?" the answer was: "His own."
    5. Re:War! by quenda · · Score: 1

      If it's war, then are TONO the Quislings? http://www.tono.no/page?id=94

    6. Re:War! by quenda · · Score: 1

      They have a decent amount of oil & gas,

      Oh no! In an alternate universe, Pres. George W. is announcing a new member of the Axis of Evil.

    7. Re:War! by electrosoccertux · · Score: 1

      Oh please, because the king of Norway is in any way comparable to Saddam Hussein. Yep, he might as well change his name.

      Sheesh.

    8. Re:War! by Fluffeh · · Score: 1

      It worked with Iraq.

      No, it didn't, but the joke is on them!

      --
      Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
    9. Re:War! by Rakshasa+Taisab · · Score: 1

      Norway owns about 5% of the European stock markets. And after this economic crisis, probably a lot more once the dust settles, as those with liquidity (China, Norway, etc) are the ones on a buying spree.

      --
      - These characters were randomly selected.
    10. Re:War! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They have...oil?

      They MUST be liberated!

    11. Re:War! by hicksw · · Score: 1

      If they managed to flatten Norway, it would be huge.
      But probably not as pretty.
      For a little while.

    12. Re:War! by jonaskoelker · · Score: 1

      Once they have flattened the country

      That's going to take a while, what with all the skiing mountains...

    13. Re:War! by nebulus4 · · Score: 0

      Well, I don't know about EU, but USA can perform a "liberation war" on them

      Thank God for our NATO membership!

      Then, after all is done and nicely set up, they can replace the president and blame everything on the previous one

      You probably mean prime minister. The only president we have is the president of our parliament.

      --
      "It would be wrong to refuse to face the fact that everything is fundamentally sick and sad."
    14. Re:War! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not Norwegian, but [...] changed plane in Oslo a few times.

      Wow! Say no more, that's such an impressive qualification that I'll consider your post just as if it had been written by an actual Norwegian. :)

    15. Re:War! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um, Norway is a NATO member. Even disregarding the fact that the USA attacking and subjugating a European nation would lead to a third world war (do you honestly think the EU would just sit and do nothing there?), NATO would fall apart immediately if they tried that as well. The whole "western" world would be severely weakened, and Russia, China etc. would *jump* at this opportunity.

      It'd be an utterly stupid move. Not even Dubya would've done that, and that's saying something.

    16. Re:War! by knutkracker · · Score: 1

      Who modded this funny? Does anyone seriously think this won't happen again?

    17. Re:War! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then, after all is done and nicely set up, they can replace the president and blame everything on the previous one, without returning the people of the "liberated" country the rights to their own natural resources.

      Only American can replace the President of Kingdom of Norway !!!

  6. suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by RabidMoose · · Score: 1

    With any luck, bigger media players will watch what happens here and learn from it. Maybe somebody will even go the next step and figure out how to profit off of this distribution scheme.

    1. Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by RabidMoose · · Score: 5, Informative
      And what's more (from TFA's FA):

      If you want control of your content you need to lock it down in a vault and never show it to anyone. We gave up control of our content the day we started broadcasting. For years our most popular content have been available on BitTorrent and on sites like YouTube anyway. DRM doesnâ(TM)t work. The only way to control your content is to be the best provider of it. If people want it on YouTube then you should publish it on YouTube or in a system that give the same experience. If people want it on BitTorrent then you should provide that. If you do it right people will come to your official publish point and you'll end up with more control.

    2. Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by Kjella · · Score: 1

      With any luck, bigger media players will watch what happens here and learn from it. Maybe somebody will even go the next step and figure out how to profit off of this distribution scheme.

      Actually, that's the whole issue. NRK is taxpayer funded so there are no fees or ads to begin with. Whether people watch it on TV or online really does not matter, in fact if they probably want to reach more people abroad with these shows as it fits their cultural mission. Subscription based or ad based TV has serious issues because others can distribute it without subscription fees or ads, which pretty much by definitino means it's not ideal. But it's another source for people to learn just how good TV off bittorrent is and you just can't turn back time...

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    3. Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by AngelofDeath-02 · · Score: 1

      If real television companies did this, I'd watch it with advertisements too.
      But none of this specialized player and a day (or week) late bullshit ...

      --
      No, I am not an English major. My posts are subject to typos and incorrect grammar. Do not expect perfection.
    4. Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by icebike · · Score: 0

      > Actually, that's the whole issue. NRK is taxpayer funded so there are no fees or ads to begin with.

      So making it available for free to the people who already paid for it suddenly now gains the universal applause here on SlashDot? Look, they have an obligation to give it away!

      They produced it woth other people's money. Now they plan using other people's money in the form of hard drives and band width to distribute it. Not so altruistic when you look at in in that light is it?

      Look, its government funded pablum! Perhaps even good quality pablum, but pablum none the less. How much is that worth anyway? Is there a check box on Norwegian tax forms asking if tax payers want to contribute to NRK? No? Thought not.

      The problem with socialism, is sooner or later you run out of other people's money. (Thatcher).

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    5. Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's not actually funded with tax-payer money, but each household have to pay a licence fee if they are in possession of a TV. So yes, there is in fact a 'check box' if you want to contribute to NRK or not.

      And by the way, the content has been available free of charge on their website for years, the only new thing here is that now they will also offer bittorrent as an alternative.

    6. Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by Barny · · Score: 1

      Now thats how to put pirates out of business :)

      --
      ...
      /me sighs
    7. Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by internettoughguy · · Score: 1

      nice quote from thatcher, she really is a shining figure for world leaders to aspire too, right up there with Nixon and Reagan i should think ;).

    8. Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by Fluffeh · · Score: 1

      No, the "pirates" who counterfeit DVD's and flog them off at markets and bazaars will still do so. The average Joe Bloggs filesharer isn't trying to make a business out of filesharing, so offering it for free is merely imitating them - which won't stop them doing it.

      It's pretty much as the article says, it is merely putting more control into the hands of the publisher/broadcaster in this case.

      --
      Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
    9. Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by Wheely · · Score: 1

      There is no obligation to give it away as shown by the BBC.

      The BBC is funded in exactly the same way as NRK and yet have a far more restrictive approach to the distribution of their stuff. As an example, you can't stream BBC content to Norway.

      So, the approach NRK have taken here is different and rather news worthy.

    10. Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by Barny · · Score: 1

      I mean the private trackers who either charge money or run extensive and invasive ads to make a profit.

      And yes it will help get rid of the the pirates who sell counterfeit DVDs (of the shows displayed at least) since this will be easier than trying to find the purveyor.

      --
      ...
      /me sighs
    11. Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by icebike · · Score: 1

      As a government funded institution, NRK is tasked with giving away
      their programming. Its in their mandate. Its what they do.

      We are not discussing the BBC here.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    12. Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by Wheely · · Score: 1

      Have you never come across the idea of using something other than the subject of a discussion to illustrate a point?

      The BBC and NRK are funded the same way and, as you used the construct "As a government funded institution NRK blah blah" then presumably, what applies to NRK also applies to the BBC. NRK choose to distribute their content to all and sundry via a torrent, the BBC do not. This is therefore a newsworthy decision on behalf of NRK.

      It isnÂt especially complicated and doesnÂt even begin to cover the fact that NRKÂs mandate is to supply their content to Norway, not to everyone else.

    13. Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by icebike · · Score: 1

      It is not significant in my opinion that a not for profit government funded organization which has never charged for its content chooses to use someone else's band width and disk space to give away their content, when giving away content is exactly what they are mandated to do.

      The clear focus of this thread is that this is a wake-up call for mainstream media. You need only read a few of the comments to realize that this is what the majority of the rush-to-post crowd is thinking.

      NPR is a closer analog than is the BBC.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    14. Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense by Wheely · · Score: 1

      I have no experience of the NPR but do have direct experience with both the BBC and NRK as a Brit who has been living in Oslo for the past six years.

      NRK and the BBC seem almost exactly the same to me in their remit, their range of programming and their method of collecting money (although NRK are much more polite about it).

      Neither of these organisations have the mandate to just give away their content. Their customers i.e. the citizens of their country buy their content via the license fee.

  7. Hurray! by johsve · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Finally, after all the fuss with the swedish FRA law monitoring the traffic from Norway the norweigans finally got pissed and decided to fight back. I think I'll move to Norway, it seems to be a nice country.

    1. Re:Hurray! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now I'm torn. Finland's got Assembly, Sweden has Machinae Supremacy, and Norway has this now. Finland might have the most open laws related to beer of the three of them...

    2. Re:Hurray! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Aye, but it's full of Finns..

    3. Re:Hurray! by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 1

      ... and some of the best Heavy Metal you can find.

      \m/

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    4. Re:Hurray! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A colleague of mine was once talking to a Finn about what people do there in their spare time. The answer came back, "In summer, fishing and fucking.". To which he asked, "and how about in winter?"... "less fishing".

      Sounds like a good country to me!

  8. Is any material up right now? by Bromskloss · · Score: 1

    Is it available for outsiders as well? Could we get a link?

    --
    Swedish plasma phys. PhD student; MSc EE; knows maths, programming, electronics; finance interest; seeks opportunities
    1. Re:Is any material up right now? by FaxeTheCat · · Score: 2, Informative

      Have a look at http://nrkbeta.no/

    2. Re:Is any material up right now? by Carlosos · · Score: 1

      Did you read the article? I'm guessing not since it has the torrent links and rss feed for the show.

    3. Re:Is any material up right now? by RabidMoose · · Score: 2, Informative

      RSS feed of their torrents: http://nl.nrk.no/torrent/deringenskulletru/deringenskulletru.rss
      It certainly seems to be available for anybody who's interested.

  9. Translation by BronsCon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "Experience from our early tests show that if we're the best provider of our own content we also gain control of it."

    Translated: More people will pay for what they can get for free than will pay for for less than they can get for free.

    --
    APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    1. Re:Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      More like:

      If it is just plain easier, and more reliable to get it from us in the way they want it, they will come to us instead of a 3rd party redistributor.

      (This means they will come to OUR site, and see OUR ads when they search our tracker.)

  10. Umm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can I get a translation of the translation?

  11. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by thinktwo · · Score: 5, Informative

    They are using MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio.

  12. I for one... by el3mentary · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hope that the BBC follows suite, it's the next logical step after iPlayer right?

    --
    I reject your reality and substitute my own.
    1. Re:I for one... by Darkness404 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Look, I'm sorry but the BBC is just plain broken. They use region locking, complain about having to use cross-platform standards (because we all know there are no more than 6,000 Linux users in the entire UK right?), and all the while the citizens of the UK seem to think it is fine and dandy for their government to be taking their tax dollars and making shows that aren't in the public domain.

      The BBC basically shows how NOT to run a state-run TV channel.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    2. Re:I for one... by FluffyWithTeeth · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Hah, I don't think you understand bureaucracy.

      The BBC have shovelled a HUGE quantity of money into iPlayer. That spending has to be justified, which means it will stay largely as it is for at least the next five years.

    3. Re:I for one... by nbannerman · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Well to be fair, region locking makes sense.

      Why should I, as a UK TV licence payer, fund programs for other people to watch?

      Additionally, I believe that since the BBC co-producers shows with other broadcasters in other countries, the licensing agreements currently in place mean the BBC has to take steps to stop (for example) a co-Canadian produced drama appearing for free before it is shown in Canada.

      Oh, and the BBC is not a state-run tv channel. It is a public broadcaster, but aside from the BBC Trust (which is more advisory), Government input is limited. Indeed the BBC have a very long and strong history of taking the Government (be it Tory or Labour) to task.

      It should also be noted that there isn't a 'TV tax' in the UK. The TV licence is only payable if you actually own a TV capable of receiving BBC programming. Now whilst the licence system could use a bit of modernising, it isn't a blanket tax.

    4. Re:I for one... by Darkness404 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why should I, as a UK TV licence payer, fund programs for other people to watch?

      Because it doesn't cost any more. If the entire world population were to turn on the BBC (and assuming these were physical TVs and not electronic so you can't add in the small cost of bandwidth) they could all receive it. Is it unfair? Yes, but I am of the opinion (note that I am not a UK citizen nor do I live in even a European nation), that if something doesn't require more money to keep it going, then why really charge for it or prevent others from using it? For example, for a road toll, by driving across it you create wear on the road that will eventually have to be paid to fix using the toll money. On the other hand, when I receive TV transmissions, it doesn't require any extra fees to keep it running.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    5. Re:I for one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Well, except for things like Doctor who, which is at least partially funded by CBC, the Canadian Broadcaster, and is over a YEAR out of date when it hits our airwaves...

      How do you think I get my fix of the Doctor? Do I wait a year, and pretend to not know what's going on via Outpost Gallifrey or some other Fansite?

      Duh. My country, and therefore MY tax dollars paid for that show... and guess what, you still region lock us. Idiots. Your web site won't even play teasers and trailers. Morons.

      Sheesh. Of course fans will just bittorrent it.

      The sad thing, is the CBC actually DOES provide the shows on their website... but they are slow in getting their year old episodes released.

    6. Re:I for one... by Rakshasa+Taisab · · Score: 1

      The BBC commands a lot of respect in the world, and is a really good conduit for the British culture. You think that's something that can only be counted in 'paying X pounds for every show'?

      Some things are worth more than just how many people watch a show.

      --
      - These characters were randomly selected.
    7. Re:I for one... by JumperCable · · Score: 1

      Why should I, as a UK TV licence payer, fund programs for other people to watch?

      So add advertisements to the bittorrent & let the BBC earn advertising income from the shows. People are lazy. If the BBC were to provide high quality, DRM free shows via a low cost bittorrent distribution method people would use it. So long as the advertisements are kept to a modest quantity & duration most people would be lazy enough to not bother removing them or skipping past them.

    8. Re:I for one... by Wheely · · Score: 1

      The BBC is respected the world over. If their "constitution" were changed to allow them to make their own shows available, internationally, over the net with one or two adverts thrown in I think the viewing figures would be enormous. It might reduce the amount UK citizens had to pay for their TV license by quite a bit.

    9. Re:I for one... by blackest_k · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Actually if you were in Europe if you pointed a dish at 28.2 East you would have access to bbc1 to 4 cbbc and cbeebies also itv1-4 channel 4 e4 more4 film4 and channel 5 all are broadcast in the clear with no encryption. The bbc does limit it's output on the Internet but presumably it has to pay for the bandwidth used. so bbc says yes to give away for free, no to paying to let you watch for free.

    10. Re:I for one... by Kokuyo · · Score: 1

      So what exactly speaks against opening a tracker here? The ones distributing would be the fellow British citizens, not the BBC.

    11. Re:I for one... by Candid88 · · Score: 1

      I use Linux and have never had any problems watching shows on iPlayer. I use it all the time.

      The region-locking is for shows they've bought off other networks (e.g. US imports), so the BBC doesn't have much say in the matter. If you ever read the iPlayer blog, it's pretty obvious the developers hate it but it's a case of either have the region-locking or not show them at all.

      p.s. the BBC isn't government-run, as evidenced by various court cases over the years where [ruling party of the day] have claimed unfair coverage.

    12. Re:I for one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually it's mostly a case of the BBC ignoring the fact its broadcasting all over Europe.
      With a mythtv box you can have shows scheduled recorded and converted to divX automatically.
      But that's one thing and distributing copies is another. Just today youtube decided to yank all British music video's due to the performing rites society wanting a large increase in revenues from youtube. Described as dismayed by youtubes actions the PRS or greedy fuckers to the rest of us are just one example of what crawls out the woodwork as soon as it looks like someone could make some money from content. Strange how something broadcast for free then becomes a valuable commodity once there is the slightest wiff of distribution occuring.

  13. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by EEPROMS · · Score: 0, Troll

    mp4 is actually a very old standard (hardly used these days for torrents), try mkv

  14. Three cheers by mc1138 · · Score: 1

    It's nice to see more and more groups jumping on the bandwagon of digital distribution!

  15. The Pirate Bay retaliates.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Clearly TPB should sue them, how the hell are they supposed to compete against a service that release their own content for free and in high quality, and that doesnt even have any advertising on their site?

  16. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by areusche · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Which is an excellent codec for maximum compression vs quality. I like xvid like anything other guy, but when it comes to quality/size mp4 with h.264 is great.

  17. Great idea, but ill pass by nurb432 · · Score: 1

    Now that i'm throttled ( comcast user here ), what is in it for me to share my bandwidth for their benefit?

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    1. Re:Great idea, but ill pass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Now that i'm throttled ( comcast user here ), what is in it for me to share my bandwidth for their benefit?

      you don't have to upload. though it will make your download faster.

  18. Wait-- by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Experience from our early tests show that if we're the best provider of our own content we also gain control of it."
    NFW!

  19. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by mikael_j · · Score: 2, Insightful

    To go slightly off-topic, I've had a lot more trouble with files distributed in the matroska format than I have with MPEG-4. For some reason there seem to be a lot more half-broken mkv files out there (as in, they'll sort of play but not quite right), even though I doubt this has anything to do with the container format itself it has kind of turned me off of mkv (not to mention that I have more hardware and software capable of playing mp4 than I have capable of playing mkv). Kind of reminds me of when 7zip showed up and a bunch of people started refusing to use any other format for compressing files, which just pissed everyone else off and then interest for the format declined.

    /Mikael

    --
    Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
  20. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by Shivani1141 · · Score: 1

    There are community codec packs(even one called that) that allow any windows machine to play pretty much any video format without issue. i've used them with great success with a collection of video files that spans back to the napster days, not to mention all the way forwards to todays 1080p stylesubbed Anime encodes.

  21. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are community codec packs(even one called that) that allow any windows machine...

    FAIL.

  22. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    mp4 is actually a very old standard (hardly used these days for torrents), try mkv

    OK, and when will you start bitching about the CODEC used? (Hint: look up the words container and codec.)

    You don't like the container, just remux. There's another word for you to learn.

  23. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    mp4 is actually a very old standard (hardly used these days for torrents), try mkv

    Why wouldn't you use the MPEG-4 container for MPEG-4 video (AVC) with MPEG-4 audio (AAC)? Matroska is great for more exotic stuff like FLAC audio tracks, but in this case not really needed.

  24. What is good from NO? by antdude · · Score: 1

    What contents are interesting? I didn't see anything but then can't read this foreign language. ;)

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    1. Re:What is good from NO? by Terrasque · · Score: 1

      Subtitles aren't translated (but are avaliable in norwegian if someone does want to translate).

      The series that's released now is called "Der ingen skulle tru" which points to a norwegian folk song.
      The song's title is translated : "where noone would believe that anyone would live".

      It's basically a 6 episode documentary about people who live in remote places in norway, and their style of life.

      --
      It's The Golden Rule: "He who has the gold makes the rules."
    2. Re:What is good from NO? by antdude · · Score: 1

      Thanks man. Nothing good so far.

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  25. NORWAY? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Norway

    Population: CRAB

    No. of Lions = 0

    No. of Tigers = 0

    Main Export: TREE

    ( Lion > Tree = KENYA WINS )

    MORE LIKE SNOREWAY

  26. Declare war on Norwegia! by arclyte · · Score: 1

    We must petition Washington immediately to reroute our troops coming home from Iraq and send them to occupy Norway. This is obviously a ploy to destroy our internet access, therefore putting our economy in even more peril. Dozens of cable companies have already shown us the evidence that P2P networks will destroy the internet. Obviously the Pirate Bay trial didn't come soon enough, Norway's public broadcasting has now become infected by these insidious thieves trying to cripple the broadcasting industry and the internet in one go!

  27. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by Barny · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    As a PC OEM installer, we put CCCP on all new PCs we sell, means less calls from people not able to play XYZ media format and biching about it :)

    As for the other post in regards to only being windows format, CONFORM OR DIE LINUX/BSD/MAC WHORE!

    Ahh, now thats some good flamebait.

    --
    ...
    /me sighs
  28. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by rdnetto · · Score: 1

    Interestingly enough, those are the same codecs used by YouTube.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtube#Format_and_quality_comparison_table

    --
    Most human behaviour can be explained in terms of identity.
  29. Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  30. Oblig: by Chris+Brewer · · Score: 2, Funny

    A moose once bit my sister...

    --
    Consultancy: If you're not part of the solution, there's money to be made in prolonging the problem
  31. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    mkv isn't a codec. H.264 is most commonly associated with "mp4" videos and most mkv use H.264 as well.

  32. The MAFIAA wont take any notice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Countdown to the first frivolous lawsuit from some dumb American entity claiming to own the content in 3... 2... 1...

  33. No way Re:War! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "Once they have flattened the country..."

    Haz lotz lotz lotz mountains, do not want Danish geography (pankake flat --but Denmark twice as yummy) plzthxbye =^._.^=

    (And we keepz torrentz n-jaaa~~~!)

  34. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    yeah it should be FLAC & OGG

  35. Fixed that for you Re:NORWAY? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Norway
    Population: MOUNTAIN MONKEYS

    No. of Lions = MANY

    No. of Tigers = A FEW

    MAIN EXPORT: OIL

    ( Muskoxen > Lion = NORWAY WINS )

    MORE LIKE SNORREWAY

  36. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.cccp-project.net/

  37. Norvegia? Re:Declare war on Norwegia! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  38. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by Pentium100 · · Score: 1

    mkv is supported only on PCs, while mp4 is usually supported on mobile phones as well. If they used xvid/divx instead of h264, the result would be supported on majority of divx DVD players.

  39. A path to open culture? by Max+Romantschuk · · Score: 1

    From the article:

    We are providing full quality video files with no DRM. The biggest problem regarding this project is to clear all the rights we need to be able to distribute content in such an open system. NRK is a big content producer, but record labels, actors, external production companies and format rights owners usually have contracts that prevent us from distributing our content freely in the internet.

    I may be overly optimistic, but we can at least hope this will eventually drive publicly funded and independent media away from global content conglomerates and towards a future where open licenses like Creative Commons and independent artists have a greater role.

    --
    .: Max Romantschuk :: http://max.romantschuk.fi/
  40. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by mikael_j · · Score: 1

    Great, now I just need to throw out FreeBSD, MacOS X and Linux and replace them with Windows...

    /Mikael

    --
    Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
  41. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by mikael_j · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Coming from an AC I'm inclined to believe you're just a random troll, especially since my experience is hardly unique, and screaming "anecdote!" at the top of your lungs doesn't mean that my cellphone and other non-PC hardware magically gains the ability to play mkv files, not to mention that for some reason a lot of mkv files seem to be of rather questionable quality, although obviously this is not something that you can find peer-reviewed research about...

    /Mikael

    --
    Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
  42. It is all about being able to demand license fees by xiando · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK) is financed through a "license" which they can by law charge everyone who owns a televison set or other equipment which is able to get TV broadcasts. c They have been trying to claim a whole range of ludicrous things in order to demand license fees from more people than those who are listed as TV owners in their database for years.

    NRK actually tried to claim that everyone who owns a telephone also has a television and asked for permission to demand that everyone registered with a telephone pays the TV license. They were, luckily, denied when they tried that one. Now they are trying to claim that everyone who owns a computer can view their content and should pay a television license.

    NRK setting up a BitTorrent tracker does look like a good thing - at first glance. But do not get fooled: This is all about getting a new Norwegian law which would say that everyone who owns computer technology must pay NRK a yearly fee. It is that simple. This is all about the money. That they use BitTorrent is in itself a good thing. Their motives are absolutely not.

  43. Today is a good day for... by tommituura · · Score: 1

    pining for the fjords.

    1. Re:Today is a good day for... by YttriumOxide · · Score: 1

      But of course, there are nicer fiords* in the world...

      * (not a mis-spelling)

      --
      My book about LSD and Self-Discovery
      Also on facebook as: DroppingAcidDaleBewan
  44. This is old news (almost a year old) by jonaskoelker · · Score: 1

    If you go read the article (I-must-be-new-here), you'll note that it says

    "By Ãyvind Solstad â March 26, 2008".

    (in slashcode still doesn't handle unicode, it's "(Oslash)-yvind" and "solstad (groupoperation) March").

    The news are almost a year old. That taken into account, I hope it's a dupe ;)

    But in any case, it's good news, so keep on celebrating.

  45. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by gnud · · Score: 1

    That's just stupid, and I suspect that you know it.

    VLC works on all those platforms, and plays these files fine.

  46. Nicer fjords in New Zealand? Not quite by Terje+Mathisen · · Score: 1

    It is quite interesting that the only two places on the Earth with significant amounts of fjords are located in Norway and New Zealand, two countries which are located more or less on opposite sides of the globe.

    The New Zealand fjords are more remote, i.e. nobody actually lives there, and there is no infrastructure for a visitor, while the west coast of Norway has been inhabited since the last ice age, and the fjord system is significantly larger.

    Terje

    --
    "almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"
  47. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by kaizokuace · · Score: 1

    also, if it is the right size it is easier to get it onto an ipod with this format.

    --
    Balderdash!
  48. Re:It is all about being able to demand license fe by kaizokuace · · Score: 1

    Well if thats the case then this deal sucks for those Norwegian citizens. But I am more interested in the possible effect this move will have on other broadcasting and content creators around the world. Large companies usually don't take risks easily but will follow suit when a working model is made visible through a smaller group or company.

    --
    Balderdash!
  49. Norvegians supporters of terrorism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hopefully they will use this for good instead of using it to promote the LTTE terrorists in Sri Lanka that has caused so much misery to every one http://vosl.blogspot.com/

  50. no country restrictions? by tapanitarvainen · · Score: 1

    Not only their own productions. I regularly watch the spanish drama Los Serrano there: http://areena.yle.fi/hae?pid=810385

    Could someone outside Finland try that? I must admit I'll be surprised if it isn't geographically restricted, although I guess it's possible they've gotten permission for that from the Spanish producers.

  51. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by el3mentary · · Score: 1

    Just use VLC, duh.

    --
    I reject your reality and substitute my own.
  52. news from 2008 by pdjohe · · Score: 1

    That article was posted March 26, 2008. This is quite old news.

  53. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by mikael_j · · Score: 1

    As I mentioned in other posts, it's not just PC hardware, and for some reason a lot of matroska files seem to be of "sketchy" quality, probably because some warez kiddie was too rushed to get it out the door to bother making sure it wasn't half-broken. The latter is hardly something that is the fault of the container format but it's a good reason to prefer mp4 files.

    /Mikael

    --
    Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
  54. Re:And now let's bitch about the CODEC used by Barny · · Score: 1

    And pray they keep supporting the latest formats, and that you don't need to use a particular external codec (like CoreAVC for h.264)...

    But yeah, we load VLC as well, just in case :)

    --
    ...
    /me sighs
  55. Re:It is all about being able to demand license fe by audunr · · Score: 1

    Interesting point, but luckily, NRK does not decide the rules.

    Now that the migration to DVB-T is almost complete and the analogue broadcast stops December 1st, people who do not have a DVB-T decoder and no other way of watching TV don't have to pay.

    Before the transition, around 1/3 of the population were watching the analogue broadcasts, the rest used cable or satellite. So if you're still watching analogue broadcasts (or nothing at all if it has already been closed were you live) and have no intention of getting a decoder, you'll soon be in the clear.