The European open internet is under imminent threat. BLACKOUT EUROPE

[nova18]

So why did I, as a European, not hear of this AT ALL?
And how'd the EU force this on ALL the telephone providers out there?
I think this is a sham until I hear this from another source.

Agreed, Im usually quite savvy with my news and this has completely slipped by me.
Surely if ISPs were going to implement this, they would be giving their customers the heads up well in advance.

Im going to keep my eye on this and see what happens.

 

[Beffudled Sheep]

Fuck this, I'll make my own country.
Who wants to help me invade a pre-existing country so I can take it over?

I will!

This sounds insane though. A bit too insane maybe. Oh well, I say that we just wait and see what happens.

 

[Deadman Walkin]

Hold on, wasn't this major news that they were going to do this for the world like... 3 months ago? But I never heard about it on the news or anything.

 

[jasoncyrus]

Guys they already limit wat you can and cant look at. You simply arn't looking for the stuff they limit. Plus currently its easier to let people access illegal stuff and then hand the logs to the authorities when they come with a court order.

Europe are shooting themselves in the foot by passing stuff like this.

 

[Joeshie]

Ahhh man. Thank goodness I have Europe around to remind me that it's actually worthwhile to stay in America.

 

[Deef]

If that happens, I'm going to move westwards.

Good luck with that. If the bill passes, it will establish a dangerous precedent, and you can bet your ass it's going to spread to other places as well...

Hopefully us westerners will live up to our stereotype and not give a shit about what anyone else thinks or does.

 

[Simalacrum]

We British never got along with the rest of the EU, this is the perfect excuse to remove ourselves from the bastards and become the 51st state. waitwhat?

 

[Ravenkliff]

Well, to all of you European escapists.... i guess we won't be seeing you for a while...thank god i live in America and i feel that Barack Obama isn't one for censorship, especially considering he released those memos in the CIA.... I wouldn't have done that, personally. Some things the public just doesn't need to know. Really though, i don't see how it is damaging the EU that people can waste their days trolling around 4Chan.

 

[Labyrinth]

Oh great, more scared shitless bureaucrats are trying to shut down the most popular and easily available means for information distribution and examination yet devised. Is anyone shocked? I really doubt it. Doesn't make it something they should go through with.

The internet is not television. The internet is not something to which you can offer "packages". If this goes through I can see copious amounts of money going to black-market efforts to break through it. I'd support them too. Free speech and freedom of information come at a cost for people who wish to hide their actions from the public. Maybe they should buck up their act and work for the people rather than for themselves.

 

[Talendra]

Wow, and I thought Australia's own Steven Conroy was bad enough, he hasn't headed over there has he?
Wish ya's luck with this, honestly doubt it will get passed though, but people have done stupider things before.
Also I agree, this would be HORRIBLE for the economy.

 

[NewGeekPhilosopher]

I feel more frightened every day. The world is harder and harder to live in, and the politicians care less and less. Corporations are even worse, I just had a takedown notice for a YouTube video of myself playing GTA: Chinatown Wars on my DS. I'm still confused why it got chosen to be taken down instead of thousands of other videos of people playing video games in front of a camera.

I'm incredibly scared about what the world is turning into, and my anxiety disorder medication is not strong enough to fix it. I feel worried all the time when I read these sort of messages on the Escapist because I don't know what I can do to stop the madness.

 

[NewGeekPhilosopher]

Where did my post go?

 

[lanydx]

What the Hell?!

 

[BladePHF]

If that happens, I'm going to move westwards.

Good luck with that. If the bill passes, it will establish a dangerous precedent, and you can bet your ass it's going to spread to other places as well...

Hopefully us westerners will live up to our stereotype and not give a shit about what anyone else thinks or does.

Yeah, but think about it, there are a lot of people in America who would just loooove to be able to dictate what sites get black-listed or such. The MPAA, the RIAA, etc... And I'm not just saying pirating sites and the like, no. Anything that rubs them wrong. Lobbying is a powerful force in the States.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

Sounds like the death of Internet porn to me. As I've been, um, told (yeah, that's it), the appeal of Internet porn lies in how easy it is to get and how many websites there are. With the new system, however, one would probably have to get some kind of special package deal (which most companies likely wouldn't carry, for obvious reasons). And if one was gonna do that, why not just pay for Adult TV or something?

That issue aside, I'm against the mandatory regulation of the Internet in any form. You just know this is open to abuse by the Government (like threatening companies into not putting certain controversial websites in their packages, etc.)

I'm glad I live in America right now. If this idea catches on over here I may just stop using the Internet entirely.

 

[S.H.A.R.P.]

I'm rather disgusted by this news. This would be a bad.. no, terrible idea. I like the idea of the EU but this is just silly. I hope this turns out to be over exaggerated, and in reality just mean some small measures to ensure security or something.

Fuck this, I'll make my own country.
Who wants to help me invade a pre-existing country so I can take it over?

Depends, will you call it Maxmania? Or Maxerland? If so then that would be rather lame, but if you come up with something nice I'm game!
Can I be the head of the Ministry of Silly Walks? Of course that name would be a sham, in real life it would be the Ministry of Herding Cattle, but we can't let them know that, now can we!

And what country did you think of invading? Perhaps something around the equator, with lots of fruits and ***** beaches.

 

[timmytom1]

Pffft.

If they go through with this I just cancel my internet connection. Simple.

B-but...
How will you get porn make friends maintain a social life research murders "study?"

Fuck this, I'll make my own country.
Who wants to help me invade a pre-existing country so I can take it over?

Pick me!!!

I read that wrong the first time, and it was really awkward for a minute.
Okay, you can be Minster of Baking.
Now go send our enemies cookies.
<color=white>The "special" kind.

Can i be a big daddy or somekind of police office i will enforce your laws with a literal iron fist

I wanna join the populace repression force too!!! yay for dictatorships!!!

 

[timmytom1]

This will affect the UK right? I'm clinging to the hope that the UK will not be affected for whatever reason.

Given our stance on the EU is to peer across the channel while they shout at us for not doing exactly what they said i`m hoping not

 

[Inverse Skies]

Well isn't that an interesting scenario? You can understand why they might potentially think it was a good idea, to try and block inappropriate access to material say for kids, but I don't think they have thought through the wider implications of such a scheme. If it does get through, it will be interesting to see if it lasts or not or if there is such a backlash against it they will be forced to take it down. Whatever happens, I'll be keeping an eye on it from now on.