Fellow bloggers – in the EU? You need to know this.

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Man of Mystery

I opened my Betfair account on 22nd April 2003. I was one of the first subscribers to BetTrader and was a founding partner of JuiceStorm.com on 17th February 2007.

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Back in June MEPs began to complain that unlicensed blogs were “polluting” cyberspace with “misinformation and malicious intent”. They wanted “a quality mark, a disclosure of who is writing and why”.

Not even the European Parliament, I thought, would actually try to censor the internet. I was wrong. We now have the full report and, sure enough, it wants to “clarify the status, legal or otherwise, of weblogs”, and to ensure their “voluntary labeling according to the professional and financial responsibilities and interests of their authors and publishers”.

With a glorious lack of self-awareness, the Euro-MPs behind the report elaborate on their motives: “The report points out that the undetermined and unindicated status of authors and publishers of weblogs causes uncertainties regarding impartiality, reliability, source protection, applicability of ethical codes and the assignment of liability in the event of lawsuits. It recommends clarification of the legal status of different categories of weblog authors and publishers as well as disclosure of interests and voluntary labelling of weblogs.”

But, you know what, I reckon what this is all about is just taxing us more – if they can. 🙂 They “…propose the introduction of fees commensurate with the commercial value of the user generated content as well as ethical codes and terms of usage for user-generated content in commercial publications.”

So, heads up fellow bloggers, perhaps you need to move the location of your blog servers like we just have? Would you pay a licence fee?

I NEVER WILL BRUSSELS. Stick your DRAFT REPORT on concentration and pluralism in the media in the European Union (2007/2253(INI)) where the sun don’t shine.

And Marianne Mikko, you silly, silly girl. I can sense a domain dedicated to her being registered any second. If you feel strongly you can email her at [email protected]