EU to move ahead with cultural quotas for streaming services • Hacker News Board

Re: EU to move ahead with cultural quotas for streaming services

#191

Post by Kenji » Wed, Sep 05, 2018, 6:30 PM UTC

sannee wrote: post #118

This is the side of the EU that foreigners usually don't see. This is the reason there are movements for quitting in every member state (with varying levels of success). The isolationism EU is beginning to display is starting to worry even me and the alternative is a bunch of UKIP-like nationalist which I am not really a big fan of.

It's not isolationism. It's pure authoritarianism. I don't care about local shows. If it's good, it gains traction and wins out in the TV market. If it's bad, it dies off. If local shows cannot compete, then let them die and never come back.

Re: EU to move ahead with cultural quotas for streaming services

#192

Post by wutbrodo » Wed, Sep 05, 2018, 6:34 PM UTC

seszett wrote: post #98

julesie wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the size of EU member states varies drastically. Germany is home to 83,000,000 people, Malta just over 440,000. Is the EU suggesting that Malta's population should only be able to stream content 2x the volume of its domestic content output? And that's assuming the likes of Netflix was able to hoover up all of that domestic output which seems untenable.

For reference, IMDB shows 297 movies from Malta, and Netflix' catalogue in Malta offers 716 movies. So even assuming the current catalogue is completely devoid of Maltese movies, there is still some margin available to fulfil the strictest requirements. Although I think the actual requirements is to include 30% movies from the EU .

I don't think your interpretation of the requirements is correct. From upthread:

> The proposals will require that streaming services give over at least 30% of their on-demand catalogues to original productions made in each EU country where a service is provided (individual EU Member States could choose to set the content bar even higher, at 40%)

Re: EU to move ahead with cultural quotas for streaming services

#193

Post by philwelch » Wed, Sep 05, 2018, 6:37 PM UTC

bepotts wrote: post #162

philwelch wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't all that different from the "Canadian Content" regulations in Canadian broadcasting, which is probably a contributing factor to the disproportionate number of Canadian popular music artists.

It probably has more to do with the fact that Canada is close to the US, so Canadians have plenty of opportunities to mingle with the American cultural players.

There are parts of the US that are in the US and don't produce quite as many actors and music artists. Though there are some other factors (e.g. Vancouver's generous film subsidies and variety of cool-looking architecture to use as outdoor film sets), there seems to be way more Canadians in entertainment than you'd expect, and I wouldn't dismiss the influence of Can-Con regulations.

Of course, it probably helps that Canada has plenty of cultural and linguistic similarities to the United States. Preserving the native culture of, say, Denmark through Danish Content regulations on popular entertainment means producing content that isn't easily consumed outside of Denmark, whereas a ton of Canadian Content can be easily marketed in the United States.

Re: EU to move ahead with cultural quotas for streaming services

#194

Post by chvid » Wed, Sep 05, 2018, 6:39 PM UTC

Imagine that Netflix in order to be accessible in Ohio had to have 30% content (of its Ohio edition) produced in Ohio.

Re: EU to move ahead with cultural quotas for streaming services

#195

Post by valueprop » Wed, Sep 05, 2018, 6:41 PM UTC

tomjen3 wrote: post #160

mariushn wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're working on a project to let people discover multiple cultures/areas besides "bestsellers", but with books. May I ask you a few quick questions on how you see that happening? There's no email in your profile, mine is marius@booxia.com Appreciate your thoughts!

Can I sign up somewhere for news about that project? I am always interested in Good Book recommendations.

Yes please: https://booxia.com

Note we're in heavy development and research. Any feedback is welcome!

Re: EU to move ahead with cultural quotas for streaming services

#196

Post by kgwgk » Wed, Sep 05, 2018, 6:42 PM UTC

Fnoord wrote: post #92

phyller wrote: post #7

> The proposals will require that streaming services give over at least 30% of their on-demand catalogues to original productions made in each EU country where a service is provided (individual EU Member States could choose to set the content bar even higher, at 40%) 30% for each country seems really high to me. As usual for regulation, there will likely be high unintended consequences. While in the US and elsewhere…

Its not as if Netflix is the creme de la creme of cinema. Netflix already sucks outside the US. Outside the US, there's far less content, and there is either way a lot of filler content anyway. What is going to happen is that Netflix will get the rights to stream (hopefully quality) local movies and series. That's gonna differ per country in EU. For example, some movies get broadcasted once or twice on public TV and…

> Netflix can acquire them [reasonably] cheap

Why would the seller sell cheap, knowing that the buyer is forced by law to buy?

Re: EU to move ahead with cultural quotas for streaming services

#197

Post by andresp » Wed, Sep 05, 2018, 6:43 PM UTC

sannee wrote: post #118

This is the side of the EU that foreigners usually don't see. This is the reason there are movements for quitting in every member state (with varying levels of success). The isolationism EU is beginning to display is starting to worry even me and the alternative is a bunch of UKIP-like nationalist which I am not really a big fan of.

Exactly. The EU has lost any contact with reality and is drowning in their own ideological echo chamber.

It seems that fear is making them adopt such a defensive approach that it is stopping them to see how their efforts are actually sucessively destroying any remnant of representativeness they might still have.

If this trend (which started with the financial crisis in 2008/9) continues, the EU might end up being France and Germany alone in a few decades.

Re: EU to move ahead with cultural quotas for streaming services

#198

Post by vidarh » Wed, Sep 05, 2018, 6:44 PM UTC

enitihas wrote: post #163

jrockway wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the law mandate that the movies be good? Because you can just set up a webcam, chunk it into 2 hour pieces, and call it a movie.

Nice question. Although brand value concerns will trump these problems in practice.

Not if Amazon Prime is anything to go by - Prime Video in the UK at least is full of random Youtube videos (yes...) and bargain basement independent productions. I don't mind most of the time, as the recommendations means they'll mostly surface if there's genuinely little good stuff available in a given genre, but they're clearly not very concerned about it reflecting on their brand.

Re: EU to move ahead with cultural quotas for streaming services

#199

Post by mariushn » Wed, Sep 05, 2018, 6:47 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #145

mariushn wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you see that happening, experience wise. Say one is in a bubble of Hollywood action/romance movies, or NY Times bestsellers. When this person hears about something different from somebody else, he thinks Meh. What/how would they need to be introduced to a new movie/book that is outside their culture, but several people thought it was good? Any other thoughts? Thanks :)

- The presentation should have to be up to 2018 standards, e.g. not like Project Gutemberg or some relic from the past. Nice photos and illustrations, quotes, etc. - Leverage the hits: e.g. Joe Nesbo has had his books made into major movies, Uberto Eco is famous worldwide, European TV series have been remade for the US market (e.g. Forbrydelsen -> The Killing), people know Fry and Laurie, and so on. One could promote…

Awesome ideas coldtea, thanks for taking the time to share them!

Re: EU to move ahead with cultural quotas for streaming services

#200

Post by munk-a » Wed, Sep 05, 2018, 6:49 PM UTC

wukerplank wrote: post #49

phyller wrote: post #7

> The proposals will require that streaming services give over at least 30% of their on-demand catalogues to original productions made in each EU country where a service is provided (individual EU Member States could choose to set the content bar even higher, at 40%) 30% for each country seems really high to me. As usual for regulation, there will likely be high unintended consequences. While in the US and elsewhere…

> 30% of movies in Indiana need to be created in Indiana Seems like the media production is pretty centralized in the US. It's hard to compare with Europe, where most nations have different languages, their own TV stations (producing their own content) and their own funds to support productions of movies. It would be a shame if these biotopes of media production would get dried out because of US monopolies. At least…

Also * cough * a good chunk of those US shows/movies are made up here in Vancouver anyways.