10.19.11
Europa.eu: Become Microsoft or Apple Client to Access European Parliament
Summary: Codec patent mess remains a concern for many, not the governments though
WITH the controversy over software patents in Europe we hoped that the parliament would be more sensitive to subjects like these, but we were wrong. Over the years we gave many examples where the parliament broadcasted in formats that required buying Microsoft codecs and despite the complaints not much has changed. Here is how they explain it:
From: Webmaster Europarl Date: Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 4:58 PM Subject: RE: WPU-2389 - Problems downloading videos on the EP website To: [privacy] Dear Madam / Sir, Thank you for your message and your interest in the activities of the European Parliament. The recorded videos (Video on Demand - VOD) of the plenary in the Multimedia Library are currently available in WMV and MPEG-4 format. The format of the videos for live broadcast and VOD of Committees and other events is currently WMV. In future the MPEG-4 format will be available also for the live broadcasts and all VOD. The new format will also be accompanied by a new multi-platform reader. It seems that you are probably using an Apple computer. If not, thank you for providing information (including versions) about the operating system, browser and media player used, in order to better understand the situation you are facing and help you more efficiently. You may find below text that answers questions of Apple/Mac users. Live streaming: The format of the live broadcast video feed of Parliament is WMV. On some operating systems (Mac for example) you cannot read this format directly in your browser. It is then possible to use an external media player to view the video feed. To do this, use the link provided under the video image. Copy and paste this address into your media player. Downloading: The recorded videos of the plenary (VOD: Video on Demand) in the Multimedia Library are currently available in WMV and MPEG-4 format. In future the MPEG-4 format should be available also for the live broadcasts and all VOD (including Committee meetings). The new format should also be accompanied by a new multi-platform reader. VLC or Flip4Mac might be a solution for watching the video. When downloading, you can use for example VLC to read that file. Downloaded files contain always all linguistic versions. There you can go to the track "Audio / Audio Track" and choose your preferred language. As VLC is using multi bit-rate video, it is possible that it opens 3 windows for the video. Follow these steps if you'd like to have only 1 screen: Open the file Click "Video / Video Track / Disable" -> Result: no screens Click "Video / Video Track / Track 3" -> Result: one screen Google Chrome / Firefox plugin About Google Chrome, if a plugin is missing then Google should propose the plugin which you can find also here: http://port25.technet.com/videos/downloads/wmpfirefoxplugin.exe (it's the same for Firefox and Google browsers). Note: Our streaming and VOD services should be functional with the most popular operating systems, browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox) and media players (Windows Media Player, Quick Time, VLC). We cannot offer any alternative at the moment, but this is one of our priorities. Parliament is currently working to put in place other video formats and to offer better compatibility. The objective is to use the MPEG-4. You can find more information about our VOD and Live broadcast services on the following pages. EP Live - Multimedia Library - VOD - About: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/wps-europarl-internet/frd/help/help-with-menu?currentSei=SEI3&language=en EP Live - See & Hear - Live broadcast - About: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/wps-europarl-internet/frd/help/help-with-menu?currentSei=SEI1&language=en We hope that this helps! Best regards, Europarl Webmaster EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DG COMMUNICATION Directorate for Media WebMaster@europarl.europa.eu
Why does one need to buy proprietary codecs from a cartel in order to access something which could easily use free formats that are widely supported? This information is paid for by taxpayers after all, it’s not just some private decision. To be fair, it is not just the European governments that do this. It’s a worldwide issue and it is endemic. █
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Michael said,
October 19, 2011 at 7:58 pm
With this I agree with you, Roy. While government agencies should be able to use the software that serves them best, they should not publish files in any format where others have to pay a penny to view or read. At the very, very least, if they are going to publish MS Word files or something they should include a link to the Word reader, but that is far from perfect. Really, PDF or something more universal should always be used.