I'm a devout Windows users - but even I realize this is nonsense. EU content should be available in formats that are 100% accessible to all EU citizens, regardless of their choice of OS - it's not like there's no solution that would provide that.
Its seems stupid to support WMV microsoft format when the EU is always going on about what microsoft should remove from Windows .
Support other file formats to be steamed , such as OGG/OGM , XviD , Mpeg1 , Divx3.11 , etc
I'm proud the EU is fighting Microsoft regarding their way of doing business. And now I'm completely ashamed that I have to find out that there are ignorant people running these websites.
Please support open standards which are patent free so that everyone has a means of participating in our democracy. If we put a tollbooth on democracy we would seriously hamper it's usefulness.
humm, no to Linux, i think this is just another eu taunt for money grabbing, humm dose anyone know what the word 'bung' means?, also i'd like to know what my £870 a year really does apart from fund a load of foreigners to come to my country and live of the benefits system?
Free information! Free and open standards! Please don't make us have to buy software from Microsoft and support a convicted monopoly!
The double-talk of EU is really incredible!
I feel excluded from the democratic processes of the EU for no good technical or legal reasons. Please support open standards so that everyone can participate.
This is a very surprising that you support only US based technology and not non-proprietary, open-source resources. As a US citizen I find your decision very disappointing!!!!
Is the closed format .wmv not one of the reasons the EU took legal action against Microsoft? How can it (the EU) defend the use of a format designed to exclude other (free/libre) alternatives? Please make an example and use www.theora.org instead.
How can it be illegal to use open standards? How can it be illegal for our government to make its proceedings available to the public? If it was a matter of issues needing to be kept confidential for security reasons it wouldn't be available via any format, but for something that will be broadcast anyway make it available via a standard ALL platforms support. They exist, they are proven, they are free. The only reason reason this may be "illegal" is if the government has made a deal saying they would NOT use open standards. Why would a government self-impose this limitation? Follow the money.
How can they say that they don't support Linux when all they're talking about is distributing a file in WMV format. Use VLC or MPlayer on Linux and you can see the video perfectly!
www.buildacomputeronline. com
Ironic, isn't it, that the same EU that is suing Microsoft for monopolistic practices is also forcing people to use a proprietary Microsoft product/ technology to view the deliberations of the council.
Why not support the "Free and Open Source" software writers and users? Especially since they are the people who have helped to produce many of the modern software solutions that we have come to appreciate today.
The legal reasons to use an open video format are clear: The EU Council, paid with the taxes of all europeans, MUST PROVIDE universal access to the information it produces. For that, it should use open and public formats. If there are equivalent technical solutions, the cheapest and most general should be used. Otherwise, it's misusing the taxpayers money to finance private interests, namelly Microsoft. It's the private companies that should comply to the public/open standards, not the other way around.
Everybody should have access to the same opportunities, and this access cannot be restricted on the grounds of which software choices we make. Support open standards.
It is both ethically and technically wrong to not 'Support Linux'. At the very least MPG encoding could be used, or perhaps a more open format such as Ogg.
Dumbest...idea...ever. Isn't it the EU that is sueing MS for anti-trust violations? Way to push everyone to use THAT companies proprietary format that you have to use a CLOSED operating system to use.
The "Streaming Service of the Council of the European Union" should be available for everybody and not only for Mac and MS Windows users.
Change the service in that way, that also linux/bsd/.. user can use it.
One Solution would be to use the free theora codec for the videos.
Ah yes the EU 'government' a collection of good and corrupt officials and outright crooks,.. Odd everyone seems to have forgotten just how miserable they are after the 1999. They may not all be corrupt but thers enough bad ones that make the *whole* council unworthy of the taxpayers money they are entrusted to manage. This is just another example of the blind spending on propiretary products to the detrement of the masses. Quite how this decision can sit with the past judgements on the monopolistic judgements against Microsoft beggers belief and smacks of heresy. Quite frankly the EU is no longer what it's original intent was to be, a free market WITHOUT political interferance.
There is no legitimate reason to not support a non-proprietary video format that can be viewed equally by users of all computer operating systems. This MUST be politically biased, as Mac and Windows users could easily view mpeg or Ogg (Theora) formats. No, I fear someone has caved to Microsoft's cash-filled briefcases yet again.
So typical that the EU is in the pockets of a large corporation like Micro$oft. Freedom in the EU gets limited day by day. They deserve to get voted out. Yesterday.
If large international companies can profit, benefit and provide employment supporting linux, so can any governmenental organization. Examples are Intel, IBM, Dell, TomTom, AMD, and many more. Get the facts! Support Linux, and Linux will support the EU!
Linux represents freedom and unity, where not any one body may control the rest. Disallowing linux users is like digital segregation. But I guess values can change when enough money is stuffed in your pocket.
The statement on the streaming FAQ is crazy - there are plenty of legal ways to stream to F/OSS. The EU and all government should be setting an example by using fully accessible streaming services.
I am extremely disapponted in this decision. This means content is being denied to the increasing numbers of people who are getting fed up with Microsoft's bullying tactics and increasingly restrictive software policies. My family and parents have moved entirely away from Microsoft and are now running Linux variations because of the continuous software and increasingly poor licensing restrictions - such as activation.
If You Would be democratic then you should support Linux. There is quite many legal ways to support all platforms. You are supporting monopolys , I though they where Illegal according to you
It is disappointing to see that the EU refuses to use open formats. Instead, Microsoft customers are treated as first-class citizens, while everyone else is a second-class citizen.
Does the Council of the European Union serve European taxpayers, or Corporate America? Your streaming service should be available to everyone -- not just Windows and Mac users.
I don't understand a concrete reason why support for Linux is not available. Besides, the WMV format is an archaic artifact left over from the dys of 98.
Please, enlighten me. Question 1: what are those legal problems?
Question 2: A public service should be universally accessible. This means using at least platform-independent, but preferably open-source solutions.
It is against democracy to force people to use the product of a single company to access the process of government - a powerful company with its own specific political agenda
