andenator

Transmission Asia-Pacific is a meeting of video activists and free software developers using online video distribution for social justice and media democracy.

Sukabumi, Indonesia, May 19-25 2008.
http://transmission.cc/txap
[Korean Translation]

Online video distribution is rapidly reshaping social change film making, huge opportunities now exist to distribute video work widely, independently and at minimal cost. The potential of online distribution to advance social justice, human rights, environmental and other causes is significant. With this in mind Transmission Asia-Pacific (TX-AP) aims to bring together free software web developers and video activists from throughout the region to share skills and forge collaborations.

Today EngageMedia announce a series of major updates to Plumi, the free software video sharing content management system. Plumi enables you to create a sophisticated video sharing and community site out-of-the-box. In a web landscape where almost all video sharing sites keep their distribution platform under lock and key Plumi is one contribution to creating a truly democratic media.

These updates include major enhancements to site speed and reduced server load, a new design and features such as tagging and call outs.

EngageMedia has just released of a new report into Free and Open Source Software video codecs. It is a review of available tools for the creation, playback and embedding of online video using FOSS codecs, and a look at the most pressing areas for development to enhance their adoption by social change video projects on the web.

FOSS Codecs for Online Video: Usability, Uptake and Development

A review of available tools for the creation, playback and embedding of
online video using Free and Open Source Software video codecs and a
look at the most pressing areas for development to enhance their
adoption by social change video projects on the web.
[Report]

Or via this Tiny Url:
http://tinyurl.com/yofb2g

A version in PDF is also available for reading offline here:
http://www.engagemedia.org/Members/anna/FOSS_Codecs_For_Online_Video_1_2.pdf

EngageMedia are very excited to announce the first release of Plumi, a free software video sharing Content Management System. Plumi enables you to create a sophisticated video sharing site out-of-the-box. In a net landscape where almost all video sharing sites keep their distribution platform under lock and key, Plumi is one contribution to creating a truly democratic media.

http://plumi.org | http://engagemedia.org

Plumi is based on the popular Plone Content Management System and enables a wide array of functionality including:

An article about EngageMedia on Nettime

A YOUTUBE FOR THE ACTIVIST WORLD... ONLY MORE FAIR

By Frederick Noronha

Across the internet, a growing number of websites and tools are offering people a wide range of 'free beer' -- type of products. But, as far as cultural activists go, there is still a shortage of free speech tools.

This is where Engagemedia.org steps in.

This Australia-based collective has produced software to enable an activist network in SE Asia and the Pacific to take online a wide range of social jusice and environmental video. What's more, it wants to do so on a socially just model.

Tactical Tech and Women'sNet are pleased to announce the web launch of the latest edition of NGO-in-a-box, the BaseBox.
base.ngoinabox.org

The BaseBox is a collection of tools for the day to day running of small to medium sized NGOs. Produced by Tactical Tech in collaboration with Women'sNet, the BaseBox aims to make it easier to set up base, find the right software and learn how to use it.

Targeted primarily at activist and advocacy organisations in developing countries the Box contains a set of peer-reviewed Free and Open Source Software tools, with associated guides and tutorials. The edition can be accessed online but it's primary form is as a physical box set of CDs, providing immediate access to all the software tools without the need to download them. The physical box will become available in the coming weeks.

So the first release of Plumi, the Plone based video sharing CMS produced by EngageMedia, is just around the corner. The beta should all be out in the next few weeks and available for installation and testing.

from the site

Plumi is a GPL licensed video sharing Content Management System based on Plone and produced by the EngageMedia collective. Plumi enables you to create your own sophisticated video sharing site; by adding it to an existing Plone instance you can quickly have a wide array of functionality to facilitate video distribution and community creation.

... and flash transcoding is now working in engagemedia

The free beer Richard Stallman loathes is everywhere. Media companies are currently falling over themselves to produce the new hive for user generated content. The names have rapidly become common place - YouTube, MySpace, Flickr - and their affect has been enormous, dramatically changing the production and distribution of media globally. Free beer pours from the taps of these new hubs of participatory media as they clamor to get you in the door. But free beer, as Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman has always emphasised, is not the same as freedom.

The Free Software Foundation has a stock standard one liner about what free software is and is not: "free as in free speech, not as in free beer". That is free software is not about price, but liberty. Free software is software that may be freely shared and modified on the basis that those modifications be made available to others. The defining document for free software is the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL).

Part of my travels in Indonesia included meeting up with various video makers and organisations to 'spread the word' so to speak about DIY online distribution. I went into Jakarta to find a way, preferably a train, to get to Yogyakarta in central Java where I had organised to do a workshop. There were however unprecedented rains and major flooding just after I arrived which meant in the end I couldn't leave for 3 days. It also made it impossible to catch up with any Jakartan groups as getting around the city was a total nightmare. The only thing to do was to sit tight. Luckily I still had the net (though the power went out for half a day which meant forced chilling out). Could have been worse.