No, codemasters (netcoders, lol?) is only the European distributor of the game, Turbine is the company behind the actual game.
Also it will not be completely free, the add-ons will still cost to you and there will be some cash shop shizzle (nothing as major as in most "Free" to play MMOs though, mainly just decorative items and such) as well as some minor restrictions for free players. Read here for more: http://lotro-europe.com/freetoplay/info/
it was more due to their other title D&D online dieing so they changed it to f2p - the game then went insane in terms of pops, and I guess it also improved income. Lotro pop is actually quite high :)
Also it will not be completely free, the add-ons will still cost to you and there will be some cash shop shizzle (nothing as major as in most "Free" to play MMOs though, mainly just decorative items and such) as well as some minor restrictions for free players. Read here for more: http://lotro-europe.com/freetoplay/info/