The European Parliament - such as it is - is currently discussing introducing controls on the web in general, and blogging in particular.
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" Weblogs and other new on-line media pose new challenges, say MEPs. The growth of commercial media outlets for user-generated content, such as photos and videos, used without paying a fee, raises problems of ethics and privacy, and puts journalists and other media professionals under pressure, they say. "
[ ... ]
" ...the blogosphere has so far been a haven of good intentions and relatively honest dealing. However, with blogs becoming commonplace, less principled people will want to use them".
[ ...]
" ...we do not see bloggers as a threat. They are in position, however, to considerably pollute cyberspace. We already have too much spam, misinformation and malicious intent in cyberspace". She added, "I think the public is still very trusting towards blogs, it is still seen as sincere. And it should remain sincere. For that we need a quality mark, a disclosure of who is really writing and why. "
[ ... ]
" German Liberal Jorgo Chatzimarkakis acted as advisor for the Economic and Monetary committee. He told us that "bloggers cannot automatically be considered a threat, but imagine pressure groups, professional interests or any other groups using blogs to pass on their message. Blogs are powerful tools, they can represent an advance form of lobbyism, which in turn can be seen as a threat". He said "any blogger representing or expressing more than their personal view should be affected by this report."
Tell us what you think?
... We plan to publish a cross-section of opinion. "
web-editor-en@europarl.europa.eu
http://tinyurl.com/44szux
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I have already emailed and told them what I think. I don't think they'll be publishing what I said in their " ...cross-section of opinion." Here it is, word for word:
Sir
You really don't quite understand this "free speech" business do you. I don't need a "quality mark" - I get my quality mark automatically from my readers. I definitely don't need one from you. You are not my betters you know - I don't have any betters. I have my peers, and that will do just fine, thank you.
As for "misinformation and malicious intent". Well if I misinform, you can be damned sure plenty of people will let me and the rest of the world know about it - that's how blogging works, didn't you know.
Malicious intent? Well I suppose you might have a point there - everyone who reads me knows I have nothing but malice for Islam and want its practitioners gone from my country and continent. I also have a bit of a downer on immigrants in general. I'm quite happy with having a bit of the world where I and people like me can say: 'This is our little patch of the Earth. Here we make the law and we make it to suit the way we like to live. If other people don't like and respect that, then they can just shove off back to whichever patch of the Earth they came from - back to where they can make their own laws.'
I also have a serious downer on the EU (NOT the same thing as 'other Europeans') and will do all I can to destroy it.
Any controls you try to introduce will fail. We will find technical workarounds to nullify such controls and just carry on as if you don't exist. And you aren't clever enough to stop us.
Morgan
PS My real name - I'm not afraid of you, you bastards.
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I have already told them what I think. Please feel free to do the same, to the email address given above. Might be a good idea to not let your anger get the better of you though ... unlike me.
