Bloggers Beware Bastards

On Thursday the clones of Brussels discussed the fate of blogs and how they might extend their dictatorial grasp over them. Click here to go to actual document.

Various bloggers have drawn attention to the desire of some in the EU to demand some kind of 'registration' for bloggers - presumably so they (the clones) can keep them in line. See the Bruges Group blog, for example, or Charles Crawford.

Some points to think about from the execrable document itself:

AD. whereas the proliferation of new media (broadband internet, satellite channels, digital terrestrial television, etc.) and the varied forms of media ownership are not sufficient in themselves to guarantee pluralism in terms of media content,

- what on earth do they mean by 'pluralism' in the first place? The media are already 'plural' - just like the word. And who has the right to demand that new media, or any media, for that matter, should 'guarantee' anything to do with content beyond what is already legally required? Content and quality are the business of the people owning and employing the media, not of bureaucrats.

AU. whereas there are a growing number of conflicts concerning freedom of expression,

AV. whereas, in the information society, media education is an essential means of empowering citizens to make an informed and active contribution to democracy,

AW. whereas the increased supply of information (particularly thanks to the internet) is making the interpretation and assessment thereof increasingly important,

AX. whereas the promotion of media literacy among the citizens of the European Union needs much more support,

- please note the presumptuous and authoritarian nature of these words: the idea that the state or the EU are the arbiters in determining how citizens should be 'empowered' to do anything that is basically their private business and that they are expected to make an 'active contribution to democracy'. I don't want to mkae an active contribution, I want to be left alone. Interpretation and assessment of information is the individual's business, not the state's. And who says we, as citizens, need any kind of 'support' from the EU to improve our 'literacy' in new media and making up our own minds about the information it provides?

The rat that you can smell is the rat who pretends to be protecting your freedom whilst actively depriving you of them.

16. Considers that the rules on media concentration should govern not only the ownership and production of media content, but also the (electronic) channels and mechanisms for access to and dissemination of content on the internet, such as search engines.

- consider that - content and means of access. In other words, all of it. And search engines! Is there nothing they don't want to control?

25. Encourages an open discussion on all issues relating to the status of weblogs;

- that's an outright lie.


There's plenty more of this bilge.

The one thing that is certain is that all governments and legislative bodies such as the EU are determined to bring the internet under their control.