Anytime you find yourself thinking that regulation in America can’t get any worse, it’s always helpful to take a look at Europe for confirmation that yes, indeed, it can. The Times of London online edition posted a startling story today on a new issue paper on media regulation expected to be released soon in Brussels. The paper is part of an EU effort to update its existing media directive, adopted in 1989. Among its conclusions: “non-linear audio-visual content” (Euro-speak for Internet content) needs to be regulated. According to Times Online, the EU is considering regulating areas such as “taste and decency, accuracy and impartiality for Internet broadcasters.”
Chilling stuff, if true. Of course, it’s hard to predict what, if anything will sprout out of Brussels’ bureaucratic maze. Still, it kind of makes you glad that over here we have that pesky First Amendment to protect us (well, usually) from such regulatory musings.
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Posted in: First Amendment, Free Speech & Online Child Safety
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
