Last Thursday, the Progress and Freedom Foundation blog weighed-in on the European Commission’s proposed revisions to the Television Without Frontiers Directive. Here’s a nugget:

Here in summary is why [the EC] is frightfully wrong: 1) TVWF is supposed to promote economic growth in Europe, but saddling new video entrants
with additional regulations will instead stifle investment, and thus growth. 2)
It is impractical in the extreme to apply any kind of content regulation on the
inherently international Internet. 3) The “light touch” regulation the EC and Reding are referring to for new media puts them at a regulatory advantage over broadcasters, which makes no sense.

The logical response to a burgeoning market with ever-increasing options is to regulate down, not up. The EC is being told this loud and clear by European companies. European media consumers should hope the EC listens.

They call it ‘Regulation Without Frontiers’. I wonder where they got that idea…?