Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Isn't one's access to entertainment, information or opinion being curtailed – by legal frameworks that allow corporations to restrict what one can get, or direct action to similar ends? This appears to be an increasing tendency. And the media won't help us, for it is part of this. It differs in each country: if the U S A remains the freest, which ones are oppressive?
But is it worse in supposedly civilised and free states? If one isn't coping with playing D V Ds outside their designated region, one has the harder task of getting a proxy server for accessing things like that sixty-or-so percent of exciting music that's blocked by G E M A, &c form reaching folks in Germany. And even in the U K the situation is serious. Meanwhile, continental or insular European access to American radio-shows, such as Coast To Coast AM is being denied to the extent that it's practically impossible to listen to anything but locally-prescribed shows
Isn't one's access to entertainment, information or opinion being curtailed – by legal frameworks that allow corporations to restrict what one can get, or direct action to similar ends? This appears to be an increasing tendency. And the media won't help us, for it is part of this. It differs in each country: if the U S A remains the freest, which ones are oppressive?
I hope the if the U S A remains the freest in your question never, ever rears its ugly head because we as a humanity may lose its inspiration and hope for many throughout the world.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Davy-040
Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Burma, North Korea
Classic examples and the usual suspects throughout our history...past, present and future (some of which have faded into the woodwork due to the uprising of like minded people all over the world) are certainly interchangeable and capable of doing so again in the future.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BoCosmo
But is it worse in supposedly civilised and free states? If one isn't coping with playing D V Ds outside their designated region, one has the harder task of getting a proxy server for accessing things like that sixty-or-so percent of exciting music that's blocked by G E M A, &c form reaching folks in Germany. And even in the U K the situation is serious. Meanwhile, continental or insular European access to American radio-shows, such as Coast To Coast AM is being denied to the extent that it's practically impossible to listen to anything but locally-prescribed shows
This is exactly where I don't think all Americans appreciate daily what we take for granted. I personally don't have a definitive answer for your question but I do believe it is a question often asked (if not aloud then perhaps within) by the populace of supposedly civilized and free states. We, who are free have the general belief that we have an absolute birthright to question and stand up to any authority which seeks to deny any freedom whatsoever or ability to think for ourselves.
Concerning Gema, although I do not have a full grasp of the particulars I think it is all about the money as I have a read, "There's an expression for it among songwriters: "Change a word, get a third".
Behind the music: undaunted Gema continues YouTube battle
The German royalties collection society has shown an admirable refusal to be cowed in its long-running rates row with YouTube
All I can say...is that in spite of the many, many freedoms Americans appreciate, which were set forth by our forefathers as unalienable rights in the United States Declaration of Independence, I think we are ourselves experiencing a sense of malaise concerning an encroachment and assault upon these rights. What will come of this feeling I don't know but I have a sense that it won't be pretty if it ever comes to embracing our rights and the willingness by Americans to foresake their comfort and take to the streets, as horrific as that may sound.
Since then, it has become a major statement on human rights, particularly its second sentence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
This has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language", containing "the most potent and consequential words in American history." The passage came to represent a moral standard to which the United States should strive. This view was notably promoted by Abraham Lincoln, who considered the Declaration to be the foundation of his political philosophy, and argued that the Declaration is a statement of principles through which the United States Constitution should be interpreted. It provided inspiration to numerous national declarations of independence throughout the world.
No, it is not the Declaratinn of Independence that is held to reflect the statement of principle through which the Constitution is to be interpreted. That is already right there, within the body of the Constitution, in the Preamble:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
As I was saying – the galling thing about being an internet-user, etc in Europe is that one is expected to be a Broadcasting Licence-Fee holder. And one is constrained to pay this `Television Licence´ fee, on pain of breaking the Criminal Law in Britain. In other words, the common people are put-upon but seldom helped by the authorities to cope with anything from radio-interference to media-restrictions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
