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EU Considering Regulating Video Bloggers

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the license-to-speak-just-a-small-additional-fee dept.

Aglassis writes to tell us that recent proposed EU legislation could require anyone running a website featuring video content to acquire a broadcast license. From the article: "Personal websites would have to be licensed as a "television-like service". Once again the reasoning behind such legislation is said to be in order to set minimum standards on areas such as hate speech and the protection of children. In reality this directive would do nothing to protect children or prevent hate speech - unless you judge protecting children to be denying them access to anything that is not government regulated or you assume hate speech to be the criticism of government actions and policy."

5 of 351 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Never going to work by viniosity · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Another question is: should this work? I am not a historian, but wasn't the whole point of broadcast licenses to prevent frequency interference? Is that really relevant with the way things work on the Internet today?

  2. On the up-side by atomicstrawberry · · Score: 3, Interesting

    TFA is actually about the UK government trying to prevent this directive from being passed, so the whole world hasn't quite gone insane yet.

    On another note, it seems very interesting, timing-wise, that this would come up so soon after Google acquires Youtube.

  3. Re:Taxman! by Zarniwoop_Editor · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I think George Orwell may just have been before his time...
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoughtcrime
    Next thing you know I'll need a licence before I can hum a tune in my head.
    They can have my videoblog when they pry it from my cold dead server. ;-)


    --
    - F1 NEWS
  4. Re:Never going to work by TubeSteak · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The stuff having to do with foul language and whatnot was a nice side benefit- after all you can't let people curse on the airwaves if they are public, can you?
    The United States is still carrying a lot of repressed (sexual) baggage from its upbringing in a Protestant/Puritan dominated society.

    The U.S. is in good company, if you compare the FCC's treatment of sexuality & language on television with that of various second & third world theocracies.

    Religious Fundamentalists are essentially the same everywhere.
    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  5. Time to wake up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It is long past time to get off the RegulatedNet(c) and become active in anoNet. Hell for that matter there is i2p (I just happen to be more active on anoNet since it is a full ipv4/ipv6 network).

    The fact of the matter is, EVERY day they add one more reason to hide and conceal everything you do.