They're still allowed to have premium channels for their TV service and such. Isn't that not very "net neutrality"-like?
European Parliament passes net neutrality law
51–60 of 152 posts
Re: European Parliament passes net neutrality law
#52I think the EU is getting an amazing amount of work done, if you consider that it consists of 28 nation states which went to war with each other regularly for centuries up to a couple of decades ago...
You're thinking of the Cold War, the end of Colonialism and Nuclear Bombs and confusing it with something the EU did.
For an example of how things can go wrong even in Europe, despite all of what you listed, just look at the Balkans.
I’m quite convinced that the EU and its predecessors were instrumental in keeping Western Europe very stable and very peaceful. The cold war helped, sure, but even 24 years after the end of that stability and peace aren‘t even threatened a little bit. Conflicts can and are routinely solved politically, not through any passive aggressive grandstanding that marks so many other international relationships. (I have always said that to judge supra-national institutions you have to look at how they deal with conflict, not how often they agree or how harmonious they sound when everyone has the same opinion. Those institutions exist to work constructively on solutions for conflicts and problems, that’s when you have to evaluate them. And there is nothing wrong with differences in opinion existing if institutions are in place to resolve that and find a compromise.)
Additionally the EU has been very profitable for very many European companies. Creating a common market (still imperfect and still more to profit companies than people, of course) has been a major advantage for everyone.
Re: European Parliament passes net neutrality law
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're thinking of the Cold War, the end of Colonialism and Nuclear Bombs and confusing it with something the EU did.
The EU was born out of the EC, which was born out of the EEC, which was born out of ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community). The entire concept of the EU is that a straightforward homogenous marketplace engenders trade which in turn engenders peace, as attacking your trading partners is rarely a beneficial move. Nuclear weapons and MAD were extant before the EEC and throughout its existence, and have not played a ro…
Come on, that's a silly thing to say, everyone's empires were significantly dismantled after WW2.
It's easy not to fight when there's nothing to fight over and you've got a massive bear beating at the door.
I'm not claiming the EU's done nothing, I think it's made Europe richer, increased growth, etc., I'm claiming the EU had nothing to do with peace in Europe. Europe would still be at peace today with or without a common market. Especially given that the UK didn't join for 25 years and a bunch more in the 80s and then more recently. And the UK invaded Egypt with France before they were both in the EEC.
That was NATO and mutual fear and needing protection from US doing that, not the EU. It was simply being in club capitalism and being very scared of club communism.
And the world changed, become smaller. Which developed nations have gone to war with each other since WW2? No European country invaded Norway for it's oil. The UK is seriously talking about letting Scotland drift away without going to war in it. Territory's not the same as it was.
Again, my claim is that Europe would still be at peace today with or without a common market, there's literally been no reason to fight.
Re: European Parliament passes net neutrality law
#54> mobile carrier industry body the GSMA said it “recognises the efforts of Rapporteur Pilar del Castillo to develop a constructive response to the Commission’s Connected Continent proposals but believes that the overall package fails to address the key challenge of stimulating growth and investment.” I'll take that as a ringing endorsement and a strong sign that the net neutrality law is good for consumers. Good job…
I think that's more a response to the ban on intraEU roaming charges than net neutrality...
If they're still bitter about that, then they need to grow up. The writing has been on the wall for a _long_ time about the death of EU roaming charges. Some companies were already bragging about not charging any well prior to the ban
Re: European Parliament passes net neutrality law
#55These are great news, I am a big supporter for net neutrality, however I am a bit concerned about one small detail: >“Net neutrality” means the principle according to which all internet traffic is treated equally, without discrimination, restriction or interference, independently of its sender, recipient, type, content, device, service or application. I wonder how this will work in case of malicious attacks, ddos, di…
This doesn't extend to protecting illegal acts from interference.
By that logic ISPs could throttle or block torrenting or Bitcoin if they are "illegal" in some country.
Re: European Parliament passes net neutrality law
#56I think the EU is getting an amazing amount of work done, if you consider that it consists of 28 nation states which went to war with each other regularly for centuries up to a couple of decades ago...
Agreed. Problems are now more within the states, like in spain/basque/catalonia uk/scotland, belgium, etc. and the hongarian racists, and italy-greek state corruption.
Re: European Parliament passes net neutrality law
#57Here's a kind of sickening statement:
'"Europe's telecoms operators are facing decreasing revenues ... compared with operators in the U.S. and Asia," said the GSM Association, an industry group for mobile phone companies. In a statement signed by director Anne Bouverot, the group said European laws are "impairing their ability to invest in the infrastructure required to put Europe back on the path to growth and jobs."'
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/european-parliame...
One example of these "poor companies":
TeliaSonera: 1.69 billion euros in profit out of a 2.99 billion euro revenue (2013)
Edit: Sorry, yearly revenue was about 11.6 billion euro.
Re: European Parliament passes net neutrality law
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
The EU was born out of the EC, which was born out of the EEC, which was born out of ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community). The entire concept of the EU is that a straightforward homogenous marketplace engenders trade which in turn engenders peace, as attacking your trading partners is rarely a beneficial move. Nuclear weapons and MAD were extant before the EEC and throughout its existence, and have not played a ro…
>Colonialism/imperialism most certainly has not ended. Many European nations have territories dotted around the globe, many of which are still highly contentious Some of these territories are considered to be part of the European Union, resulting in the slightly amusing fact that part of South America (French Guiana) is in fact part of the EU!
The sun never sets on the French Republic.
Re: European Parliament passes net neutrality law
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
The EU was born out of the EC, which was born out of the EEC, which was born out of ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community). The entire concept of the EU is that a straightforward homogenous marketplace engenders trade which in turn engenders peace, as attacking your trading partners is rarely a beneficial move. Nuclear weapons and MAD were extant before the EEC and throughout its existence, and have not played a ro…
Come on, that's a silly thing to say, everyone's empires were significantly dismantled after WW2. It's easy not to fight when there's nothing to fight over and you've got a massive bear beating at the door. I'm not claiming the EU's done nothing, I think it's made Europe richer, increased growth, etc., I'm claiming the EU had nothing to do with peace in Europe. Europe would still be at peace today with or without a c…
Which developed nations have gone to war with each other since WW2?
Argentina / UK for one. And the Balkan conflicts for two.
Re: European Parliament passes net neutrality law
#60Well then, finally a point to prove to anti-EU activists (UK: UKIP, DE: AfD, etc.) why having the European Union actually is important and the European Parliament isn't just a paper tiger regulating the population to death.
(Granted, most European laws ARE regulation to death, but this is a good starting point...)