Unfortunately I am about to rant a little because of something that a Conservative MEP intends to support. For those that did not read my previos post on the subject click here first.
It is certainly a worrying development that a Conservative MEP should be intending to support what are, essentially, proposals inherently on the Left. There is nothing reasonable or honest about regulating communication media online. By defintion the Internet is a transnational entity which transcends the very concept of the nation state in technical terms. It is a true expression of the Hobbesian state of nature for information and that is immensely good thing.
What's more, regulating media broadcasting through the Internet via the EU is utterly pointless. The claim that it will provide EU consumers is utterly fallicious when you consider they could choose to watch Fox News, or listen to Rush Limbaugh. There will be no protection from broadcasts sourced outside the EU. There is also nothing to stop an EU broadcaster simply moving their boradcasting operations to an external source. Regulation would be ffectively unworkable due to the glaring loopholes
At the end of the day, politicians should leave the Internet to be the largely free network that it has grown to be. The entire system is predicated on it's inherent freedom of movement and information. The network interconnects the globe in ways we could not have imagine 100 years ago, we should not start restricting it.
This is not about protecting consumers of broadcasts, this is about controlling information.
4 comments:
What are they protecting us from? Do some types of TV programmes give people cancer or something?
If its our moral well being they are worried about, then perhaps they have never actually used the internet.
Whilst I agree with what you say, I would like to point out that this statement is worng:
"The network interconnects the globe in ways we could not have imagine 100 years ago, we should not start restricting it."
100 years ago the hope was that emerging radio would be free so the people could exchange information in much the same way as the internet now does, but on short wave. Governments closed it down. They do so in China as well.
I have to say though I am a bit dissappointed that I have not made your list of regular reads yet :)
That is my political blog here:
http://aconservatives.blogspot.com/
I disagree about the short wave radio comparison. It lacked parity checking and transmission control :)
LOL. Being analouge and so superior it didn't need it :)
Post a Comment