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EU Commission Divided Over Nation-Specific Content Blocking
jfruh writes In theory, the European Union is supposed to act as a single national market. But one area in which practice doesn't live up to theory is geoblocking: Europeans may find that a website they can reach or content they have a legal right to stream in one EU country is blocked in another. Now two members of the EU Commission (the equivalent of a nation's cabinet) are feuding as to whether geoblocks should be eliminated: Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip said that "deep in my heart ... I hate geoblocking," while Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Günther Oettinger, worrying about protecting the European film industry, said "We must not throw the baby out with the bathwater."
One would think that a bigger potential market would be _better_ for the European film industry. Clearly I don't understand capitalism.
I'm all in favour of tossing the brat out. Besides, the water is starting to smell anyways.
Do explain the irony, as there is none from any educated person's point of view.
The only thing there is, is a clear demonstration of utter ignorance on part of anyone finding any irony in the headline, because that would imply they think EU is a nation, rather than a union of nations each of which has its own interests.
As the name itself, European UNION suggests.
It's not as simple as you think.
The argument against a factual one rooted in reality - European movie making is a fairly small business, but important for each local culture. And they do indeed need protection to survive, because they are not commercially as strong as the big players who tend to dominate. And big players are well known for making deals that would destroy local movie makers by squeezing their money flows.
This isn't so much of a "feud" as beginning in the standard process of European decision making. That is seeking consensus between "common digital market" and "how do we keep our cultural producers alive in a world where their output is increasingly important to national identity".
Protecting the what? Bah ha ha ha, er, yes, I'm certain there is a "European film industry." (Cough.)
James Bond, Star Wars, Indiana Jones etc etc ;) All mostly filmed in the UK.
Because the United States are always in agreement...
In europe we speak different languages, most people only one, the next group English and their own one. Fewer people would speak three. If you only speak one you don't care. If you speak English you are annoyed that the BBC is blocked. But pretty mush no one is bothered by geoblocking beside intra-european expats. However companies still block their contents to only those in the coutry. The reality is if you disable geoblocking in the EU its the US content we want to get, the rest is rethorics. An all out ban on geoblocking would have to force akamai and other content providers to not block when operating in the EU. That would be tricky, the whole question is not properly based because of the language issue that one seems to mention.
At the start of this year VAT changed so that for digital online sales the place of supply is where the consumer belongs. This means if you sell an app/ebook/knitting pattern/recipe/tune then you have to collect two bits of non-conflicting evidence of the place of belonging of the consumer, then figure out which of the 70 or so rates of VAT across 27 countries applies for the specific product (several have special ebook rates) then you add VAT to the price and remit it to HMRC through the mini one stop shop (VATMOSS). There is no threshold for this and you can get penalties each quarter from 27 different countries if you get it wrong. Or, you can geoblock and say "screw you, I can't cope with this shit." to potential customers outside the UK.
Geoblocking is about the only sane response to VATMOSS.
"EU Commission (the equivalent of a nation's cabinet)"
The cabinet in the nation where i live is a coalition of elected representatives, and is part of the Parliament.
The EU Parliament does consist of elected representatives, the EU Commission does not. It is separate from the Parliament and it consists of people elected by a commission of people who have been appointed by heads of state. That is at best a form of democracy like they had in ancient Rome, where democracy was only for the elites.
And the Belgians are waffling.
I eat only the real part of complex carbohydrates.
"Geoblocking" is just a tech-specific euphemism for "muzzling content we don't want you to see."
As such, it is entirely disrespectful, specifically in that it attempts to deny people the ability to make their own choices. It is a direct manifestation of "we know better than you what you should be able to see, read, listen to, and use."
This is about personal agency. Part of that WRT to network access is -- should be -- the choice to implement boundaries of your own using the appropriate tools. Of which there are many, ranging from user-friendly whitelists and blacklists to keeping your hosts file updated (highly recommended, btw... great for killing advertisers, too.) And of course, there's always "I'll just click away from here", an actual sane adult choice.
The one upside is that in some cases, this kind of top-down systemic oppression will just make people learn about secure proxies faster.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
As widely known in the EU the preliminary content types are readily available for review.
1. France: ISIS recruitment videos are to be blocked, replaced with prophet muhammad dancing hardstyle.
2. Ireland: images of sheep deemed too racy for minors, miners, and farmers to be banned.
3. Italy: links to objective reporting on church scandals to be redirected to a gucci outlet.
4. Malta: widely understood to be the only member country in the EU capable of handling the actual internet, uncensored.
5. Poland: Images of potato will be confiscated by free potato man/secret police.
6. UK: video/depictions of tea being poured into milk will be redirected to a warning page, and a stern letter will be delivered regarding scalding of the milk.
Good people go to bed earlier.
I'm from the Czech republic. The copyright laws around here are somewhat saner than in the West - to simplify, it's perfectly legal to download "audiovisual works" (movies, pictures, books, audio...), it's just not legal to share it. (Software is treated differently). It's not much, but it's paradise compared to the clusterfuck that is the US and western Europe, as far as I know.
If the EU (or European Comission, or whichever else bureaucratic body) forbids geoblocking, there will suddenly be massive pressure for this to change - and I don't mean that the decent parts of our law will apply to the rest of the EU. Right now, we're too small (and, well, poor) market for the big media conglomerates to truly care - but if the EU becomes a single market in this regard, then we're fucked.
I'd much rather not be able to watch the latest shitty TV sitcom than be subjected to the batshit insanity that is western copyright law, thank you very much.
It is the demon child. It can only be exorcised through the sacrament of holy circumvention.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
The irony is that the EU was intended to create a **Single** market for goods and services. Geoblocking, especially at a national or regional scale, should be anathema to the EU.
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
On top of that there is also Article 10 of the ECHR "Freedom of Expression". Whilst the European Convention on Human Rights is separate to the EU, it is mandatory for all EU members to also regard the Articles of the Convention as binding and effectively a Constitution for all EU member nations. It is ironic that different nations interpret Article 10 differently and thus "Expression" which is legal in one EU member can be illegal in another. Other Articles may also come into play too (Privacy, Association, Marriage etc)
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
James Bond, Star Wars, Indiana Jones etc etc ;) All mostly filmed in the UK.
Ah yes, the UK. Where they kill the one goose that lays golden eggs. I believe his name was Clarkson.
Bring
Back
Clarkson.
I'm not a complete idiot... Some parts are missing.
deep in my heart ... I hate geoblocking
Translation: I've not received enough bribes on that subject yet.
Mastering the English language is fucking easy: all you have to do is to put an f* word in every fucking sentence.
Partially correct. But "intended to create" does not mean "successfully created", nor does it mean "universal free market for everything".
There is no irony here, unless you find that anything that is "in progress" is "ironic". In which case you need a dictionary.
And this demonstrates the utter ignorance of EU. EU is a carefully defined political construct. Only an utter idiot would suggest literal interpretation of the word "union" when talking about "European Union". It's extremely obvious that member states are not united politically, nor economically.
But I suppose I should not expect even basic intelligence from someone who uses "get wreked, twit" as a finisher for his rambling.
Downloading is legal in most places, if you think about for a bit the internet simply wouldn't work if it was illegal. The catch is that most torrent clients upload by default, not a problem here in Oz because nobody has ever been sued for "illegal downloading". The MAFIAA have said they will start the US system threatening letters here but they haven't because they know it would be seen by Aussie courts as extortion, which is a 'real' crime. The current communications minister has basically said that if they want legislative help with piracy then they will need to get rid of regional locking and stop price gouging Aussies on content.
The thing about uploading in Oz is that the copyright holder can only sue for REAL damages, the imagined "lost sales" does not come into the equation. If the real damages do not exceed $100 there's nothing the Aussie MAFIAA can do but cry.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Protecting the what?
Ignoramus, most Hollywood films are not made in Hollywood studios, they're not even made in the US.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Sort of like the United in the states of America then?
At last union means the intersect of bits that correspond. United is "all for one and one for all"?
Unfortunately it also means the combination of the whole of the distinct sets. Combine them all. You expect no internal disagreements? There were internal disagreements before the Union. It would be worrying for everyone around the world if the EU turned into a single borg mind.
Fairly small? The Batman films, the Indiana Jones films, the Star Wars films, every Harry Potter film, the James Bond films, the Bourne films and so on and so on. So many films made in European studios it's not even funny.
Clarkson did that to himself by pushing his "Daily Mail Reader" on-screen persona to the limit time and time again, then letting it get to his head and punching someone because they didn't get him steak and chips. Or should companies employ people who physically abuse others, make racial slurs and bring the company into disrepute because he can make them money? Are morals and ethics bad things to you?
It's exceptionally obvious that national cinema we're talking about is not "major studio movies shot in European locations".