Dutch Hotels Must Register As ISPs

hankwang writes "The Dutch telecommunications authority OPTA has announced that Dutch hotels must register as internet providers (original version, in Dutch) because that is what they formally are, according to Dutch laws. It is well possible that once hotels are officially internet providers, they will also have to abide by the European regulations on data retention and make efforts to link email headers and other data traffic to individual hotel guests. Could this also happen in other European countries? This is probably not likely to lead to a more widespread adoption of free WiFi services in hotels."

Comments

Re:Free country?

[noidentity]

I always thought these things were to ensure that companies get the same freedom (that is, they are restricted the same amount by government). If ISPs get lots of regulations, then it's only fair that hotels offering WiFi be burdened the same way. It's like when the school bully is only picking on some of the kids, and they argue that he should pick on everyone equally to be fairer.

Re:Clearly the answer is more government intervent

[kainosnous]

Seeing as how I've actually been to TEA party rallies and support Libertarian ideas, and have not come across a single example of a libertarian push for government control of anything, I must ask you to cite your sources. Ron Paul is a great example (though technically, he is a Republican). He is opposed to abortion, etc., but instead of making a law to ban them, he simply proposed one that would cause the Supreme Court to be unable to hear such cases one way or the other.

There are nut jobs on all sides. I tend to tune out anything that Jesse Ventura has to say though he appears at some rallies. Also, there are some laws that even Libertarians support, such as laws against murder, and perhaps laws to enforce voluntary contracts. Keep in mind that many people are quite against things which they support being legal. There are many who would allow flag burning to be legal, yet never tolerate it on their own lawn.

Now i'm not saying you in particular feel the need to push your viewpoint on others but there are plenty of Libertarians who do. They want to control the internet so that it fits their idea of morality.

So, please cite your sources, particularly on the matter of Libertarian support for control of the internet. If you speak the truth, perhaps there are "plenty of Libertarians" that I need to not support.