4 ms·

I would have never believed Eastern Europe would be leading the way in freedom. I guess when you have had to fight for it, it is actually valuable to you.

Vivtek 15y ago
In 2006, we were in Budapest, watching TV, and they had a thing where you could SMS a number and your text would scroll across the screen. My daughter, then 12, was amazed that people were allowed to criticize the government in public like that. Chew on that a bit.
- Create 15y ago
  A lot has changed since (again) in Hungary, and to many this is no longer the case, unfortunately. The most popular call-in radio is being killed, because officials feel, that they need the frequency for another music station. It is an open secret, that it is the prime forum for the criticism of the current government. http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/neelie-kroes/media-pluralism-hungary/ http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/neelie-kroes/media-pluralism-hunga... For the record, the call-in show's radio station also obtained the frequency in a shady way, displacing classic fm to be a traffic news station (hence its original name), then ending up being the outlet of the most senior professional journalists -- whom have seen much of the old regime.
  - Vivtek 15y ago
    Yeah, my wife's Hungarian, and we're coming to Budapest this summer (and maybe staying; she still hasn't decided), so we follow this stuff. Orbán is trying to do everything at once and doing most of it wrong, and I really don't like his media policy. But come on - you don't need media to communicate in Budapest; everybody knows what's going on - because of the jokes they tell each other, if nothing else. But if a radio show of this nature were shut down in America, most people wouldn't even notice. The media never criticize the people in power here, because the people in power simply own them outright. And by "people in power", of course, I don't mean the government. That hasn't been true for a long time. In Hungary, this government has been really pushy (of course, the last government was far more corrupt), but Hungarians actually care about that. Anyway, you don't need to worry, because my wife is going to be there in May and I'd hate to be in Orbán's shoes when she gets off the plane.
- skrebbel 15y ago
  It took me a while to figure out that you're not Hungarian, but American (right?). Puts the comment in a rather different light, indeed.
  - Vivtek 15y ago
    My wife is Hungarian - I'm American and the kids have grown up in the States mostly. They're bilingual, but culturally essentially American, with some hybrid vigor from bicultural exposure.
runn1ng 15y ago
There were really big protests in Poland and quite a big protests here in Prague. It's a reaction to that, I think. The feeling I get from here (Czech Republic) is that both the governing parties and the opposition don't particuralry care about ACTA (we are not an economy based on intellectual properties anyway), but they are afraid vocal activists from Czech Pirate Party will get young people's vote if they don't stop this. As I wrote earlier, people are getting angry here for many different reasons (mainly the corruption though), they don't want to add another thing with the ACTA.
Create 15y ago
Poland is often at the forefront. Not too distant memory: http://index.hu/gal/?dir=0502/tech/szofszabtun/ http://index.hu/gal/?dir=0502/tech/szofszabtun/
ajuc 15y ago
Consider, that this generation of Poles is first since 1795, that did not had to fight for freedom :) It is part of our culture to rebel, and there was nothing to rebel about recently (ok, there was, but people were divided on the most important matters, and ACTA is great as a common enemy). I wonder, if that's the case in other countries protesting right now.

Vivtek 15y ago

In 2006, we were in Budapest, watching TV, and they had a thing where you could SMS a number and your text would scroll across the screen. My daughter, then 12, was amazed that people were allowed to criticize the government in public like that. Chew on that a bit.

Create 15y ago
A lot has changed since (again) in Hungary, and to many this is no longer the case, unfortunately. The most popular call-in radio is being killed, because officials feel, that they need the frequency for another music station. It is an open secret, that it is the prime forum for the criticism of the current government. http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/neelie-kroes/media-pluralism-hungary/ http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/neelie-kroes/media-pluralism-hunga... For the record, the call-in show's radio station also obtained the frequency in a shady way, displacing classic fm to be a traffic news station (hence its original name), then ending up being the outlet of the most senior professional journalists -- whom have seen much of the old regime.
- Vivtek 15y ago
  Yeah, my wife's Hungarian, and we're coming to Budapest this summer (and maybe staying; she still hasn't decided), so we follow this stuff. Orbán is trying to do everything at once and doing most of it wrong, and I really don't like his media policy. But come on - you don't need media to communicate in Budapest; everybody knows what's going on - because of the jokes they tell each other, if nothing else. But if a radio show of this nature were shut down in America, most people wouldn't even notice. The media never criticize the people in power here, because the people in power simply own them outright. And by "people in power", of course, I don't mean the government. That hasn't been true for a long time. In Hungary, this government has been really pushy (of course, the last government was far more corrupt), but Hungarians actually care about that. Anyway, you don't need to worry, because my wife is going to be there in May and I'd hate to be in Orbán's shoes when she gets off the plane.
skrebbel 15y ago
It took me a while to figure out that you're not Hungarian, but American (right?). Puts the comment in a rather different light, indeed.
- Vivtek 15y ago
  My wife is Hungarian - I'm American and the kids have grown up in the States mostly. They're bilingual, but culturally essentially American, with some hybrid vigor from bicultural exposure.

runn1ng 15y ago

There were really big protests in Poland and quite a big protests here in Prague. It's a reaction to that, I think. The feeling I get from here (Czech Republic) is that both the governing parties and the opposition don't particuralry care about ACTA (we are not an economy based on intellectual properties anyway), but they are afraid vocal activists from Czech Pirate Party will get young people's vote if they don't stop this. As I wrote earlier, people are getting angry here for many different reasons (mainly the corruption though), they don't want to add another thing with the ACTA.

Create 15y ago

Poland is often at the forefront. Not too distant memory: http://index.hu/gal/?dir=0502/tech/szofszabtun/ http://index.hu/gal/?dir=0502/tech/szofszabtun/

ajuc 15y ago

Consider, that this generation of Poles is first since 1795, that did not had to fight for freedom :) It is part of our culture to rebel, and there was nothing to rebel about recently (ok, there was, but people were divided on the most important matters, and ACTA is great as a common enemy). I wonder, if that's the case in other countries protesting right now.