EU Paves the Way For Three-Strikes Cut-Off Policy

Mark.JUK writes "The European Parliament has surrendered to pressure from Member States (especially France) by abandoning amendment 138, a provision adopted on two occasions by an 88% majority of the plenary assembly, and which aimed to protect citizens' right to Internet access. The move paves the way for an EU wide policy supporting arbitrary restrictions of Internet access. Under the original text any restriction of an individual could only be taken following a prior judicial ruling. The new update has completely removed this, meaning that governments now have legal grounds to force Internet providers (ISPs) into disconnecting their customers from the Internet (i.e. such as when 'suspected' of illegal p2p file sharing)."

Comments

Re:cultural protectionism

[orangedan]

I don't think you have any right to comment on culture and English when you think you are too important to even observe the simple laws of grammar. There is something called a shift key, I suggest you use it.

Secondly, this entire comment is arrogant. Preserving culture is important! In the US you wouldn't know, seeing as you have no culture. Counting back to even before the "United States of America", in the New World, there is no more than a few centuries, while any European country can count double that without thinking.

Also, if you looked past my fellow Canucks' ability to make you laugh, you would see the most multi-national country in the world, in which hundreds of different cultures exist and live together, (mostly) in harmony. I would also bring to your attention to the many hundreds of festivals that celebrate culture diversity and preservation such as Folklorama (www.folklorama.ca/).

If America has such a "cultural shadow", then I can only imagine that, to continue your metaphor, Europe would cast the world in darknesss. Never mind Europe's Eastern neighbours who could say the same. If you're so culturally monolithic, please enlighten me as to how, while pointing out how it is greater than most European countries.

I'm sorry America, but you are not the only people in the world whose "culture" and opinions matter. Canadians probably seem funny to you because we have the humility to know others may be greater, that others came before us, and that the memory of them is worth preserving, teaching, and respecting.

And I also apologize to those Americans who understand this and constantly take a beating from the rest of the world in posts like these.