Shows how much you know about Germany.:har:

You know what's funny... if I hadn't missed it on TV I could've seen the series, but on the net I'm not allowed to watch... I mean anyone with a satellite dish can watch ZDF if he wants to, so why can't I watch that again? For legal reasons? What kind of silly law is that? If I had taped it would that also be considered illegal?

EU:distortion of competition, public broadcasting companies financed by fees vs. commercial broadcasting services

"....In early 2005, the European Commission opened proceedings against Germany because of filed complaints regarding various aspects of financial regularisations of public broadcasting services...

Services affected, like ARD and ZDF, to a large extent are financed by fees. Recently, they started boosting online activities. This included media archives offering video and audio streaming for free. This was the day the bill was born. Concedings to the European Commission finally served to the closing of the proceedings....

..The European Commission's interest is the fulfillment of the public purpose of public broadcasting services, in particular including advocating and support of diversity of opinion. PBS are to cover democratic, social and cultural requirements of the audience. The requirement, to "[bring] to the public the benefits of the new audiovisual and information services and the new technologies" (3) must not include financial abuse of fees. Eventually, the Commission expects each country to control its market structure and impact as well as it is to settle complaints. Similar annoyances took place in other countries too..."
First, and obviously expected, dissenting vote taking issue with any digital activity of ARD/ZDF is cast by commercial broadcasting services. Their motivation is rather familiar and easy to understand: Digital offerings by PBS may result in an impact on the existing market because they are substantially financed by fees. It is correct that distortion of competition is to be eliminated. Yet it is a fact too that commercial services not only in Germany are facing economical difficulties.

Does this economical situation evolve from distortion of competition? No. Well, yes. Both. Revenues from advertising on conventional broadcast services substantially are on the decline. But this is due to a shift of investments to online advertising which is to be observed in other countries too.

However, ARD/ZDF benefit from this economical change since they are constrained to just a small amount of advertisements within their programmes. Therefore, one of the main claims of commercial services is to prohibit advertisement in any form within online offerings by PBS...."

etc. etc.

http://www.contentsphere.de/serendip...ml&serendipity[lang_selected]=default

Sorry guys,

I was not aware that outside Germany the videos could not be seen, if I understand your replies correctly. If I had known, I would not have started this thread.

But you could have told me earlier. ;)

Here's some free documentaries, the majority ought to work everywhere.

http://www.thedocumentarycenter.blogspot.com/

And some (mostly) about WW2.

http://www.youtube.com/user/20thCenturyWar

http://www.youtube.com/user/zxwar

1983, Able Archer and the brink of apocalypse.

Four quotes from Albert Einstein, the man who made the atomic bomb possible:

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."

"Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

"The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking...the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker."


I think the only real question is not if we'll ever have nuclear war on this earth but when and where it will begin.