The Blog Wars – More

Obnoxio finds a bit more comment on the matter of the EU and blogs.

As weblogs represent an important new contribution to media pluralism, there is a need to clarify their status, and to create legal safeguards for use in the event of lawsuits as well as to establish a right to reply, says a recent own initiative report drafted by Estonian Socialist Marianne Mikko. Own initiative reports are drafted by individual MEPs and are not proposals for EU laws. The report was later adopted by Parliament’s Culture Committee.

Clarify their status? Why? Okay, silly question, we know why; so that these bastards can define their status. That status would be; state controlled and regulated. The stuff and nonsense about legal safeguards is so much piffle. If I make a statement here that is defamatory, there is already a legal framework in place. Blogs, like any other form of publishing are covered by the laws of libel.

However, as Obnoxio points out, the right of reply comment is risible. What do these people think that the comment button is for? Come to that, if you want to, you can set up your own blog and reply to your heart’s content and no one may gainsay your right to reply. I am inclined, therefore, that Marianne Mikko is either very ignorant or she is disingenuous. Being a socialist, there is always the possibility that she is both.

The point being, that blogs don’t need to have their status clarified, they don’t need to be regulated or controlled. They are what they are. You can choose to read or not, you can choose to comment or not; the choice is yours. As a medium for communicating ideas, they are excellent. If you read the conventional press or watch the television, it is unlikely that you will be treated to real, qualified inside information. Read a blog written by a professional in any particular field and you are reading insight that you just won’t get anywhere else. When I see the press commenting about the rail industry, I sit with my head between my hands at the sheer ignorance of the reporter and their abject lack of any research into even the basics. When I write about the industry, I do so from a position of having worked in it for the past twenty years. I know what I am talking about; they don’t. I can generally assume that this is the case for just about every subject under the sun. In short, I do not trust the press or television to give me accurate information. I have rather more trust in bloggers. Not least, because most of them do it for the same reason that I do – because we want to.

The report – adopted by MEPs on the Culture Committee on 3 June – also says there is “considerable risk” that the private media’s pursuit of profit could compromise its ability to act as a watchdog for democracy. It goes on to suggest “implies a need to establish legal safeguards providing for the assignment of liability in the event of lawsuits, and establishing the right to reply”.

Sheer gobbledygook. I don’t write for profit. I do it for nothing. Indeed, it costs me to do it as I pay for the domain name and hosting. As for a watchdog  for democracy, just give me the teeth – or, perhaps, the rope and lamp post…

“The cases of unrestricted ownership concentration or of scarce content pluralism in the media are endangering cultural diversity and freedom of expression not only within national markets but also at European level. We need therefore strong European commitment to overcome those challenges especially in view of the new technologies and services in the media sector”, said Committee chair Greek Socialist Katarina Batzeli (PES).

Good God! Another fucking socialist who wants to tell us what to do. And, oh, yes, cultural diversity bollocks. Of course, bloggers speaking their minds might just damage cultural diversity. Or is it, that predominantly, we are saying much the same thing and they don’t want to hear it? Still, nice to now that there needs to be a strong European commitment to overcome us. And, who are we? Oh, that’s right, “we” are the people these arrogant bastards are supposed to be serving, the people they have signally betrayed. Freedom of expression means being able to say what you like even if the authorities don’t like it. Anything less is not freedom of speech.

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.

New challenges, eh? Why? In essence, this is not radically different to the principles of the pamphleteers of  previous centuries, of privately published magazines and newspapers. Any ethical issues can be covered by existing law – whether it be copyright infringement, invasion of privacy or defamation. As for putting the charlatans of the existing media under pressure, that can only be a good thing. They can no longer spout off and expect the proles to meekly doff their caps with, maybe a heavily edited letter to the editor. They, too don’t much like the proles engaging in free expression, it seems. Well, tough. It’s about time.

Ms Mikko told us “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”.

Oh, of course, we need protection because naughty people might use blogs. Well, I’ve got news for you, ducky; they already do. Naughty people also use pen and paper to communicate, I expect they also use the telephone, too.

Asked if she considered bloggers to be “a threat”, she said “we do not see bloggers as a threat.”

Oh, that’s nice…

“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.”

I knew there would be a sting in the tail. As I have already mentioned, for informed comment, I will generally take more notice of bloggers than mainstream journalists and I am capable of discerning the decent types from the rogues, the malicious and the ignorant. Besides, it is not up to politicians or bureaucrats to decide what is effluent and what is wholesome; that is for the reader. I don’t expect politicians to scan my SPAM filter for me. And, let me reiterate something I have mentioned before when people start talking about quality marks and disclosure of author; these things are not necessary; indeed, sometimes anonymity or pseudonymity is essential for the author to be able to write freely. A quality mark will go on this blog over my dead body. I do not need and certainly do not want authority granted by some Eurocrat. Fuck right off!

There is a voice of reason. Belgian MEP Ivo Belet:

“weblogs and user generated content contribute in a lively and fresh way to a colourful and many-sided media landscape. They should not be restrained”.

Unsurprisingly, Ivo is not a socialist…