AmishMoshr - Slashdot User

The MPEG-LA's Lock On Culture 457

Posted by kdawson on Sunday May 02, 2010 @08:13AM from the read-only-culture dept.

jrepin writes in to recommend a piece by Eugenia from OSNews, which explores the depths of the MPEG-LA's lock on video. One part of the problem is that almost all video cameras, including ones that cost more than $12,000, declare in their manuals that they are for "personal use and non-commercial" purposes only. "We've all heard how the h.264 is rolled over on patents and royalties. Even with these facts, I kept supporting the best-performing 'delivery' codec in the market, which is h.264. 'Let the best win,' I kept thinking. But it wasn't until very recently when I was made aware that the problem is way deeper. No, my friends. It's not just a matter of just 'picking Theora' to export a video to Youtube and be clear of any litigation. MPEG-LA's trick runs way deeper!""

Comment Re:Opera Kiosk Mode (Score 3, Informative) 366

by AmishMoshr on Tuesday September 04, 2007 @01:30AM (#20460393) Attached to: Bulletproof Tool For Golden Age Browsing?

The Epiphany web browser has similar lock-down options under the Gnome desktop. It uses the same underlying rendering system as Firefox so site compatibility is good. I think you have to dig in to gconf-editor to turn all of the restriction options on, but I think from there you can restrict the browser to settings similar to what you seem to want. The interface is, by default, also very minimal which is a bonus for such situations.

Some example options:
- Lock to fullscreen mode
- Disable all protocols except http and https (can specify others to allow)
- Hide the menubar
- Disable quit
- Disable toolbar editing

Java can be disabled. The pop-up blocker and ad blocker both work well with little to no configuration on the part of the user.

There was a general Gnome push for kiosk-type support some time ago. I think many of these features stem from that.

Slashdot Top Deals