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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.

Comments

[Jonathan]

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!!

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[Sanna]

Haha it actually hadn't cleood off too much I used boiling water, but I'll admit it was borderline. For the sake of a scientific experiment, I prepared the tea this way, but in practice it might work better to just microwave the whole ensemble. Also, 7.5 minutes was probably longer than necessary, but this brand of tea called for 5 to 10 minutes , so I chose the midpoint.Also, two tablespoons of any type of milk/cream is really too much for an 8 oz cup of tea (the half&half creamer version was in fact ghastly ) this recipe does need some improvements : )

[Dhulappa]

The Wanna Be Boss-He has no real authority but does have his head stuck so far up the real beosss tail that he believes it gives him some magical power to question what your work load is for the day. He makes equal salary and has been on the job 10 years longer with no real education except maybe a BS in Ass Kissing. And by BS I mean bullshit- so pun fully intended. Typically he talks more than he does about his make believe authority than gets any real work done. He will never get a real authoritative position and is kept around the office as an amusing piss ant to the real boss and an annoying coworker to the rest of us.