Posted on 05/25/2018 6:44:33 AM PDT by BenLurkin
First reported by the BBC, news sites owned by media companies like Tronc and Lee Enterprises are now totally dark in European Union countries. Some of those sites include the Los Angeles Times, the New York Daily News, the St. Louis Dispatch, the Chicago Tribune, and the Orlando Sentinel. Gizmodo was able to confirm that the websites were being blocked in Europe by using a VPN service that routed internet traffic through various European countries.
Internet users who visit sites like the L.A. Times receive a notification like the one below, explaining:
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in most European countries. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to the EU market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
NPR appears to be giving Europeans a choice of either still being tracked with cookies and other tracking technologies, or just viewing NPR online in plain text.
(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...
“Suppressing dissident speech enables fascism.”
As a bigger picture of the situation, absolutely.
I think that effort is well under way since the people of the EU have been invaded at the invitation of the EU leaders.
“They’ve had over TWO YEARS to get web site into compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules “
Which isn’t possible since the rules are vague at best and contradictory.
The GDPR rules are like the ObamaCare rules designed to destroy insurance companies and the US healthcare system: They are designed to fail so the EU can say they tried to protect privacy so the EU will just have to take over the Internet instead.
“So, how many miltary divisions does this EU Information Commissar have exactly? “
All of them since this is backed by those that control the EU military.
So the fake news sites like LA Slimes and NPR are being blocked!
Sounds like something we should let those countries handle and stay out of it.
Coming soon to a computer near you.
It’s what our liberals in the US want, too.
They are dying for a government control of free speech that they control. Censorship and book burnings are the hallmark of liberals.
Is there some reason why the EU will not allow individual citizens to decide for themselves what sites they will visit or refuse to visit?
Alright...up against the wall, and take your punishment!
LOL! That was my take. They should be grateful those sites are blocked.
Yes. Liberty and freedom are anathema to the authoritarian left.
I have mixed feelings about that. "Staying out of it" was how we got Hitler in the Rhineland. I had read this before, but I read it again yesterday, that the German officers had orders to retreat immediately if any resistance from the allies materialized.
It did not, and Hitler felt embolden to go further.
Fascism is once again landing in Europe, and I am quite worried about what trouble this is going to cause us in the future.
Yes, it is probably cheaper to just not do business in the EU than try to reorganize all your operations to comply with some byzantine law they passed. They are not exactly a dynamic emerging market that is worth catering to.
The most significant issue is the risk.
Under GDPR, the EU has extreme latitude to fine companies for just about anything and the minimum fine allowed that can be imposed is $24 million. Violate GDPR, it can be a $24 million fine and more.
How many times do you think we should be obligated to bail Europe out from their own foolishness? Is there a limit? A couple times a century? Or some cumulative total?
Or do we just keep doing it forever?
“Under GDPR, the EU has extreme latitude to fine companies for just about anything...”
That’s nice. If I’m not doing business in the EU, then good luck to them trying to collect those fines.
“Is there some reason why the EU will not allow individual citizens to decide for themselves what sites they will visit or refuse to visit?”
The one hole is all laws regarding privacy is that companies have your information then change the privacy rules afterward. It would seem a breach of contract, but that is not enforced.
So, instead of enforcing contracts the EU decided to breach your rights and the company rights too.
Otherwise, full services must be provided even if a user opts out. Easy. Free solution.
“Thats nice. If Im not doing business in the EU, then good luck to them trying to collect those fines.”
The EU believes the treaties of law allow them to sue you in the EU then use the US courts to collect.
US laws do not protect citizens from foreign courts. In fact, our laws subject you to them. The only protection a US citizen has is that our laws state that you cannot be fined for anything in the EU that you cannot be fined for in the US. With that latitude in law, the EU can say you violated privacy rights and that is enforceable in the US.
The BEST thing is simply not to do business in the EU. Block all EU access by IP address.
This is like asking me how many times we should put out a house fire that has the potential to spread to our house next door.
The Europeans are idiots, but if we let them develop a total Fascist state, it will go badly for us down the road.
Doing this might eventually topple the law.
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