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> The issue was that under the pretense of fighting child pornography the government wanted/wants to install a system The Christian-led goverment party didn't

> The issue was that under the pretense of fighting child pornography the government wanted/wants to install a system The Christian-led goverment party didn't even pretend that hard what the envisioned "Zensurinfrastruktur" will be later mainly used for and on several occasions mentioned "child pornography, copyright infringement and other crimes" in one and the same sentence. This was exactly how the copyright lobby envisioned the strategy, linking child porn and copying. ”Child pornography is great,” the speaker at the podium declared enthusiastically. ”It is great because politicians understand child pornography. By playing that card, we can get them to act, and start blocking sites. And once they have done that, we can get them to start blocking file sharing sites”. * http://christianengstrom.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/ifpis-child-porn-strategy/ http://christianengstrom.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/ifpis-chil... > No magic switch needs to be given to the police. But it is absolutely necessary to be able to block "outsourced" overseas torrent sites.

mhd 15y ago
For an international audience who might not be that familiar with German party politics, "Christian-led" might be a bit misleading… Also, you're mixing the German and the Swedish cases here a bit. I'm not even sure if the initiation of that particular bill was out of malice, and not sheer incompetence on Von Der Leyen's side. But however it started, the fact that this "protection" can easily be extended certainly was a big reason for its support. I remember that in the beginning it was all about "due to the rise of child pornography on the internet", but when an official inquiry was made (by the FDP, if I remember correctly), they had to admit that they had no such data.
- muuh-gnu 15y ago
  > Also, you're mixing the German and the Swedish cases here a bit. There are not German and Swedish cases. The media industry efforts cross national borders. The quote being from a swedish MEP doesnt make IFPI's case somehow different. > I'm not even sure if the initiation of that particular bill was out of malice, and not sheer incompetence If she actually mentions "child pornography and copyright infringement" one by another in one and the same sentence on several occasions, then it crosses the border of obvious intent, at least IMHO.
  - mhd 15y ago
    The industry's efforts cross borders, but we're talking about different governments. I understood what you meant, but especially if you're not following the link some readers here might be misled a bit.
- Tichy 15y ago
  They have "Christian" in their name, although I suppose most of them are not as extreme as the bible belt Christians. I admit I tend to think of them just as "the conservative party" although to be honest I find it dreadful that they call themselves Christians.
  - mhd 15y ago
    The straight comparison to your average bible-thumping US ultra-conservative this might invoke is the reason I "complained" a bit. The argument back then was purely on a "Think of the children!" basis, it's really not usual for German politics that a "But Jesus..." cry comes up. Also, the whole "Christian" component of the two parties (CDU/CSU) would be quite baffling and shocking to some bible belters, as we're talking about "Christian socialism" here, all based on a popular notion from the 19th century, backed by a Papal encyclical. Looking for a "third way" beyond conservatism or straight-forward socialism – which almost makes them by definition more "lefty" than e.g. the US Republicans… Think of it as "hyphen" ("christian-socialist") instead of comma ("christian, socialist"). Or as "neither" instead of "both" (I certainly wouldn't call Bavaria's CSU "socialist" – then again, as an American I might). This historical perspective curbed my annoyance about those dreadful "C" letters a bit. Well, this and the fact that even compared to some Christian moderates in the US, the hard-core Catholic loons here come out rather saintly…

mhd 15y ago

For an international audience who might not be that familiar with German party politics, "Christian-led" might be a bit misleading… Also, you're mixing the German and the Swedish cases here a bit. I'm not even sure if the initiation of that particular bill was out of malice, and not sheer incompetence on Von Der Leyen's side. But however it started, the fact that this "protection" can easily be extended certainly was a big reason for its support. I remember that in the beginning it was all about "due to the rise of child pornography on the internet", but when an official inquiry was made (by the FDP, if I remember correctly), they had to admit that they had no such data.

muuh-gnu 15y ago
> Also, you're mixing the German and the Swedish cases here a bit. There are not German and Swedish cases. The media industry efforts cross national borders. The quote being from a swedish MEP doesnt make IFPI's case somehow different. > I'm not even sure if the initiation of that particular bill was out of malice, and not sheer incompetence If she actually mentions "child pornography and copyright infringement" one by another in one and the same sentence on several occasions, then it crosses the border of obvious intent, at least IMHO.
- mhd 15y ago
  The industry's efforts cross borders, but we're talking about different governments. I understood what you meant, but especially if you're not following the link some readers here might be misled a bit.
Tichy 15y ago
They have "Christian" in their name, although I suppose most of them are not as extreme as the bible belt Christians. I admit I tend to think of them just as "the conservative party" although to be honest I find it dreadful that they call themselves Christians.
- mhd 15y ago
  The straight comparison to your average bible-thumping US ultra-conservative this might invoke is the reason I "complained" a bit. The argument back then was purely on a "Think of the children!" basis, it's really not usual for German politics that a "But Jesus..." cry comes up. Also, the whole "Christian" component of the two parties (CDU/CSU) would be quite baffling and shocking to some bible belters, as we're talking about "Christian socialism" here, all based on a popular notion from the 19th century, backed by a Papal encyclical. Looking for a "third way" beyond conservatism or straight-forward socialism – which almost makes them by definition more "lefty" than e.g. the US Republicans… Think of it as "hyphen" ("christian-socialist") instead of comma ("christian, socialist"). Or as "neither" instead of "both" (I certainly wouldn't call Bavaria's CSU "socialist" – then again, as an American I might). This historical perspective curbed my annoyance about those dreadful "C" letters a bit. Well, this and the fact that even compared to some Christian moderates in the US, the hard-core Catholic loons here come out rather saintly…