"Most governments today rationally see efforts to restrict access to programming on the Internet as hopeless, unless the government happens to be a member of the E.U.
"The E.U. sees video programming on the Internet and other non-broadcast forms of distribution such as YouTube as opportunities for future regulation....
"...the real futility of Internet content regulation is not its ineffectiveness in stopping harmful Web sites but its chilling effect on legitimate Web activities. Businesses would be discouraged from placing video files on their Web sites for fear of inadvertently angering the regulators. Businesses engaged in the distribution of video programs would reasonably worry about the potential penalties of European regulation and would rationally locate their sites elsewhere beyond the reach of E.U. regulators...
... From an op-ed by Former FCC commissioner and chief economist in the House Commerce Committee, Harold Furchtgott-Roth. (NY Sun)
For more on online video content regulation, see our analysis or links to recent coverage.
I really fear this future regulation of internet media. It seems in this world that more and more types of media are coming under continuous regulation. This is not only prohibiting free speech but it is also moulding the population by taking away the means for people to use their own intelligence to judge whether something is right or wrong. These day's we are told one offical story though all channels and we are expected to believe hands down what has been told.
Posted by: Matt Ward | November 16, 2006 at 09:03 AM