Norway gives 100% control of public video to Microsoft, MS gets angry

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Norway has announced that they will be making 20,000 video clips and twelve radio stations available online. The only problem is that it is tied to Microsoft's Windows Media Center Edition software which must be installed on your PC before you can view any of it. This rules out anyone who either doesn't have the money to buy this special edition of Windows, who doesn't have the expertise to install it, or who doesn't use or want to use Windows in the first place e.g. Mac or Linux users. Note that all of this content is paid for by taxpayers, just like the media in many other countries including Ireland.

A British author and rights activist, Cory Doctorow, wrote a nice article explaining why this was a bad decision for Norway to make, with many excellent points brought up for discussion. Not to let someone else have the last word, a Microsoft employee wrote a defensive article calling Doctorow a communist and a liar, completely avoided answering the key points raised and instead lies himself. In defense to the accusations Doctorow has written a rebuttal to Microsoft's tirade.

Gotta love what happens when you call shenanegans on a large company.

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