From the good people who wanted Big Government to take over the Internet comes a plan to regulate what videos the world can watch. The European Commission proposed new rules this week on content that can be seen over the television, cable or Internet.
In announcing the rules, EU Information Commissioner Viviane Redding said, "It would be a distortion of competition if we were to just regulate one and not all.” Nowhere in her thinking, apparently, did the idea pop up of decreasing regulation for traditional TV rather than increasing for cable and the Internet.
Now, this isn’t merely the FCC saying what CBS or NBC can show during primetime, this is the Internet. Which leads us to our point:
how does one effectively regulate Internet video? Let’s say you are lounging in Paris, eating brie, smoking cigarettes and generally smirking at the world when you decide to watch a video online. What if the Web site is based in the United States, how does the EU regulate that content? And if it can’t, isn’t this silly?
This may seem like a small point right now, given that most video comes over either traditional TV or cable, but what happens when HBO decides to make the Sopranos available over HBO.com? Major League Baseball already offers games on its site. And what does this mean for downloadable shows such as Desperate Housewives, which you can download for a couple of dollars a day after it originally airs?
That brings us back to our point. If you can’t control this distribution, then why create silly rules? And if you try to control it by blocking websites, we have a hell of a Net Neutrality debate on our hands.
At the heart of these rules are a struggle to keep EU content from being overwhelmed by U.S. movies and shows. Given the mush on U.S. TV, 463 is sympathetic. But the answer isn’t trying to seize control of all video mediums, especially when it’s impossible. Maybe it’s producing better TV shows and movies.
Commissioner Redding drove EU efforts to have world governments take control of the Internet. That effort, which failed, was applauded by China, Syria and other democratic-unfriendly states that would love to control content and expression. One has to believe they are rooting her on again on this one. The company you keep…..
For more on this, check out PFF's thoughts on the new Directive.
Europe is, after all the cesspool of socialism. National Socialism, Fascism, Marxism. It all came from Europe.
China banned Skype, too. Yet I'm talking to a business client right now thru Skype, wonder how that works... Viva la Resistance!!
Posted by: Jonathan | December 28, 2005 at 07:37 PM