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The cynic in me tells me that this is more about providing a huge competitive advantage over countries with SOPA like laws than it is about protecting human rig
by pilif 15y ago
The cynic in me tells me that this is more about providing a huge competitive advantage over countries with SOPA like laws than it is about protecting human rights.
But as they say, one should not look a gift horse in the mouth.
What happens with a decision like this is that countries with SOPA like laws will be where you want to be as part of the publishing industry whereas the EU now is the place where you want to be (or at least where you want your hardware to be) if you are a content hoster like youtube.
That's fine.
Of course this might end up with content only being available in countries with SOPA like laws, but looking at what is available for purchase here in Switzerland, I'd say that this is already the case.
As such, I'm really happy about this decision and I have in fact printed it out with the intention to hang it on the office wall.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- exit 15y ago> but looking at what is available for purchase here in Switzerland can you explain what you mean by that for those not familiar with switzerland?
- tripzilch 15y agoSome exclusive video content about imitation cuckoo clocks, knock-off Swiss army knives and synthetic polyester lederhosen is blocked in Switzerland, because it can generate dangerous increases in blood pressure, especially among the elderly living at higher altitudes.
- Gmo 15y agoI'm not in Switzerland but I'm a Frenchman in the Netherlands, and I believe the situation is the same. Basically, there is plenty of content with geographic limitations. Something that might be less visible from the US but that can be pretty annoying once outside. And that's without counting missing services such as Hulu or Netflix, for the same reasons.
- radicalbyte 15y agoYeah, I've got the same experiences in both Netherlands and the UK (I'm an Englishman living in the Netherlands, and working for a French multinational - just up the road in Ede). Sure, we can use VPNs to access Hulu or BBC iPlayer, but that's an extra expense and adds an extra layer of complexity to it. Take, for example, my BoxeeBox: it works great for local files, but it misses all of the cool streaming features that American users can enjoy.
- pilif 15y agoMost of what people take for granted in the US is not available in Europe. Here in Switzerland, the only way to reliably and legally get a Movie in its original language is buying a physical DVD or BluRay. There are no TV shows in iTunes, we have no iTunes Match, there are only localized movies in iTunes; until very recently, there were only Gutenberg books in iBooks. Until last week, there was no Spotify (or any other legal music streaming service). There's no Netflix, no Hulu and TV stations are showing episodes of TV series that aired around three years earlier in the US. Aside of iTunes, there's no legal video on demand service. Heck, I can't even buy most of the audiobooks I want on Audible or anywhere else. They still want me to buy them on CDs (and I will not buy 48 hours of Peter F. Hamilton on CDs and then rip them myself). And then they wonder why people pirate content :/
- tonfa 15y agoAbout which directive are you talking about? The original link is about a decision from the European Court of Justice.
- asmala 15y agoThe parent comment doesn't directly mention a directive, but the press release makes a reference to a directive according to which: "[National] authorities must not adopt measures which would require an internet service provider to carry out general monitoring of the information that it transmits on its network." Who'da thunk? Color me impressed.
- tonfa 15y agoBut the most important thing is not the directive, but the fact that monitoring would by contrary to the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The directive could be amended much more easily than the charter.
- ticks 15y agoCountries within the EU have all sorts of nasty laws that favour business over their populations, and have a habit of pushing through populist laws without thinking about the repercussions. The European courts are one of those aspects of Europe that is actually a good thing; they tend to protect people from the more cut-throat decisions. So, although the EU can be a dodgy entity at times, I don't think this is one of those conspiracy issues.
- stordoff 15y agoThe EU has lead to some very consumer friendly laws IMO. The Distance Selling and Data Protection provisions are two that come to mind immediately.