[blogging twilight] inexorable move to registration and a two tier internet

Welshcakes sprang into action and came up with:

Corriere's online edition has this, in which the minister proposing the law has stated categorically that no gagging of bloggers is intended and that the law will only apply to professional online publishing, bringing the law for online newspaper editions into line with that for printed versions. An amendment making this clear is to be announced tomorrow.

However, it is my opinion that an ambiguity remains: how do you define a "private blog?" Could blogs which carry even a little advertising be judged "professional", for instance?

She then replied to Chicken Yoghurt’s “all is well” comment which cast doubts on Grillo’s post:

Justin, I haven't got time to do a complete English translation, but I have read the Italian draft law and it is as Grillo says it is. However, there has this afternoon been an announcement by Levi to the effect that "private bloggers" will NOT be affected.

Which automatically raises the question of what constitutes a “private blog”. One which carries no advertising, even Google’s? One which makes no political comment?

Wolfie asked, in the same comments section, whether U.S. hosts would be affected. This might help answer that:

"Section 220 of S. 1, the lobbying reform bill currently before the Senate, would require grassroots causes, even bloggers, who communicate to 500 or more members of the public on policy matters, to register and report quarterly to Congress the same as the big K Street lobbyists. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) introduced an amendment Jan. 9 "to create criminal penalties, including up to one year in jail, if someone 'knowingly and willingly fails to file or report.'" But Vitter is now co-sponsoring Amendment 20, with Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah), to remove Section 220 from the bill.

And Britain? A BBC article on the U.S. net neutrality issue mentioned that similar moves were afoot in Britain.

And Europe?

In Europe, some ISPs have similarly begun to block access to internet telephony services. For example, this summer reports from Germany indicated that Vodafone had begun to block Voice over IP (Voip) traffic, treating the popular Skype program as "inappropriate content." European ISPs have also faced mounting pressure to block access to peer-to-peer systems such as BitTorrent, which are widely used to share both authorised and unauthorised content.

Some see this as just a money grab whilst others see a disguised agenda to shut down blog comment on political matters, however that is defined. Whatever the reason, under such proposals, the vast majority of blogs would have to close or would find the whole thing to finicky to continue.

It's a clever move because the general populace would see that the powers that be did nothing to close the blogosphere whatsoever. Let's enjoy the last two years or so of it whilst we can.

[smoking] you're nicked, me old china

What’s wrong with these paragraphs about new technology which helps detect whether you've been smoking or not?

Dr. Reddy was looking for a quick, convenient method to detect whether a person smokes. Current tests involve breath, blood or saliva samples, but the pulse cooximeter simply involves placing a clip-like device on a fingertip.

The pulse cooximeter reads percentages of poisoned blood through a light that is shined through the finger nail.

Nothing wrong with it? I want to know why – why you wouldn’t take my word whether I smoke or not? Why must I be made to submit to the indignity of a test to prove whether I’m a liar or not?

What is it to you if I smoke or not? What is any of it to do with you? How much did the research cost? Who funded it? Why not spend it on research which counts, such as finding cures for human ailments?

Do you see any distinction between a naughty child and an adult who does what he feels to be best for him?

Does the word “draconian” hover somewhere near the back of the mind in reading this stuff? I also want to know why you said "shined" instead of "shone".

[blog experiment] wonder if it can be done

Guess where I'm posting this pointless piece from?

Just an experiment like. [Hint, take the "L" from the last post's header's first word. :)]

All right - a bit of scatalogical humour but the point of it is that it is possible - that I still have the freedom to do it, to post, to visit friends. Ian Appleby, a kind and clever soul, says, of the plans to shut down the blogosphere:

Prodi is no longer an EU functionary, so don't let that sidetrack you, either. For now, this remains a draft Italian law. But yes, none the less, it's a blow.

I would suggest that this blind faith in our EU masters has eased the process by which such things have been achieved. Wake up and devote four hours on a high speed internet visiting to the reputable bloggers we know who source their material and piece it all together [I'll do this partially this weekend] - just do this and the pieces fall into place.

The thing is, I began sceptically because of completely other things I was investigating, in which bits and pieces about the EU popped up and I should have recorded and kept them there and then. Still, even Lisbon and the raft of recent EU legislation is a good starter.

It's complete naivety to think that powerful think tanks' advice is not taken on board. Think of the generalist nature of EU functionaries - of course they outsource to qangos. A beautiful example is the NAU, which when presented to Bush, became the SPPNA on March 23rd, 2005, agreed with Martin and the Mexican.

Don't get tied up in local party politics because important though they are, this sort of thing is far more important and illustrates the macro-view of where the EU is actually headed.

[blogging] plan to register and tax in the eu

Chicken Yoghurt is an otherwise intelligent and erudite man, which makes some of his blind spots a little unfathomable:

I have say that personally, it’s always mystified me why people get so steamed up over the issue of Europe. The non-impact of the issue on my day-to-day life and habits is profound.

How about this one for starters, Justin:

Ricardo Franco Levi, Prodi’s right hand man , undersecretary to the President of the Council, has written the text to put a stopper in the mouth of the Internet. The draft law was approved by the Council of Ministers on 12 October. No Minister dissociated themselves from it. On gagging information, very quietly, these are all in agreement.

The Levi-Prodi law lays out that anyone with a blog or a website has to register it with the ROC, a register of the Communications Authority, produce certificates, pay a tax, even if they provide information without any intention to make money.

Links to the pdf are at beppegrillo’s site. H/T Ian P

[blogfocus monday] sweet and sour

Photo shamelessly stolen from Tiberius, as is my usual wont

I'm calling this sweet and sour this evening but it's not a reference to the bloggers - it's a reference to their situations:

1. Tiberius Gracchus is quite taken with Pharonic follies and let's face it, who doesn't have this running through the brain day after day?

Notice that Hemiunu makes the Pharoah's power conditional upon the fact that he is a symbol for his subjects- it is through his subject's support and their identification of him as the symbol of the nation that he receives legitimation. They do that because he is a good ruler. In that sense power ascends from them to him.

2. I'm not posting any of Kelly Mac's article here - prepare yourself for a shock then please go there and read it. You owe it to yourself.

3. Ms Baroque supplies 25 ways to be Ms Baroque, in case you need assistance in being her. Here are 4-7:

4. can't ring the bank today, it's Sunday; a friend told me I need to register for online banking and he was right. I need constant access to the fiasco. 5. tomorrow, then: transfer some (more) money from the savings; try and salvage something of the wreckage of my current account. Once it's salvaged, try and keep it salvaged. I used to be draconian with money! I think I just got tired... 6. oh: go to the supermarket! There's nothing for lunch. 7. but have a bath first.

4. Kareno is facing the challenge of some not so great news and it doesn't help to be an ostrich:

You all know about the phrase to "Bury your head in the sand". Fortunately for their species, ostriches aren't that stupid, but it works for me! I wouldn't hide my head. Some other body parts of mine most definitely. Tuesday is looming, and I'm really scared. Confused and emotional. Trying to work, but concentration is not on the menu today.

Until tomorrow, readers.

[hong kong slugfest] mahjong tiles v broomhead

Dragon fight in the offing

Why would, as the Asian Times put it, two of Hong Kong's aging tais-tais [a Chinese term for a privileged woman of leisure] be of any interest to you or me?

That’s answered in the first line of the article:

Cheered on by the political class, [they] are publicly slugging it out, to the utter amusement of the common folk.

Sort of like Boris, without the niceness.

The prize for this contest is the Legislative Council seat left vacant by the recent death of Ma Lik, chairman of DAB, which is of little interest to us. The winner will only have the seat for 10 months before fresh elections for the entire council are called.

First Contestant

Anson Chan Fang On-Sang, for a start, has a wonderful name.

Even better is the epithet applied to her - Chan Sei Man:

“... for her icy smile which is said to resemble 40,000 mahjong tiles. She’s 67 and was known, before an unfortunate situation, as the “conscience of Hong Kong.”

Her popularity took a plunge when she took on the task to promote the state security bill in September 2002. Aside from the concerns over the bill's potential threats to civil liberties, her responses to the public bordered on insults.

Second Contestant

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, GBM B.A., MA, MSc, M.Litt

Anson’s former subordinate and ex-security chief, since 2002, she has become such a controversial figure that detractors resorted to taking shots at her bushy hairstyle, nicknaming her "Broomhead".

She has openly admitted that she although she dislikes the nickname Broomhead, she would not change her hairstyle just to please her critics, retorting:

"If I can't even defend my hairstyle, how can I defend Hong Kong?”

In the current battle, her opening salvo appears to have been:

“I’m ten years younger than her!”

The point of the battle

Without going too far into Hong Kong politics:

“a power struggle has been going on for the last couple of years between the leaders and [rising] younger members of the Democratic Party, flagship of the whole pro-democracy movement.”

Hence the need to pressgang one of the elitists into action - hence Chan.

The more serious side of her is her anti-sedition legislation and being seen as being in Beijing’s pocket. Ip, despite her "democracy come lately" stance, has Beijing's support since the DAB and the pro-government Liberal Party are backing her with organizational support.

Still not interesting?

The Asia Times pleads with you:

For outsiders to understand the exquisite nature of this fight, some characteristics of Hong Kong society need to be understood.

Hong Kong is a highly stratified society where everybody is expected to know his place and to keep himself there. At the top of this society are some two dozen or so established families who, generally, do not soil themselves with such common activities as politics.

Some members of these families see themselves as rightful heirs of the British in the running of Hong Kong. They will not come right out and say so, of course. They simply expect to be courted by the powers-that-be. The British cultivated them; the Chinese did not. Or not to the extent that the British did.

So the common populace are greatly enjoying when Lady Ice asks:

"I wonder who is a sudden democrat, myself or Regina?"

… and when Broomhead, who was quoted as saying:

"Adolf Hitler was returned by universal suffrage, and he killed 7 million Jews ... one-person, one-vote is no panacea,"

… now argues passionately for democracy.

The pollsters are having a field day and though the result of this bi-election counts for little in Beijing dominated Hong Kong, for the ordinary citizen, a common street slugfest between two Grand Dames sullying themselves to win the common vote has been impossible not to savour whilst the spectacle lasts.

In our own western situation where the lights are going out all over the free world, the need for the elite to still kowtow to the common man must surely strike a chord.