Who cares about consumer rights?

Swedish minister of infrastructure, Åsa Torstensson (Centerpartiet) expresses surprise and disappointment in that Vänsterpartiet-politician Eva-Britt Svensson says she is willing to knock down the EU telecoms package altogether if the Council (or "The Evil Empire", if you want) insist on throwing basic human rights out the window by adopting the completely bizarre amendment 138 that would allow oppressive regimes such as the UK and France to punish people without a fair trial.

Torstensson:

– Det är beklagansvärt. Parlamentet har varit för de flesta delar av telekompaketet och bejakat att det är bra för konkurrensen och konsumenterna. Jag är överraskad att hon uttrycker att hon vill att det ska falla, säger hon till SvD.se.

Now, excuse me Mrs. Minister of Infrastructure, but who the hell cares about competition or consumer rights when basic human rights are at stake here? Would you amputate your foot because it was itching a bit? Are you really that dumb, Torstensson, or do you just think your voters are?

"Join the dark side"

In a surprising twist of events it seems the French embassy is now doing the dirty work of the entertainment mafia lobby, trying to pressure single parliament members to change their view on integrity, freedom and human rights:

- De kom till riksdagen och de började prata om min syn på internet och
telekompaketet och varför jag hade en så naiv syn så att man inte skulle kunna
stänga av sidor.

"How can you be so naive and believe in freedom and integrity? Do you really think those human rights are worth more than the profit of the entertainment industry? Come, come, join the dark side. We promise we'll make it worth your while."

This behaviour by the French embassy is something previously unheard of in this part of the world, and just adds proof that the so-called civilized world is degenerating fast. It all makes sense though, considering that the pathetic fool ruling this poor excuse of a country is literally sleeping with the entertainment mafia. Makes you wonder what those crazy frogs will do next.

Brits being their usual technologically impaired selves

Inspired by the massive fiasco of the French Hadopi law, the Brits are planning a similar law to ban individuals from the Internet based on mere allegations of copyright infringement by the entertainment mafia, and without any court ruling. The people subjected to this ridiculous miscarriage of justice will still have access to a small selection of government websites though. Yes, it's just as insane as it sounds:

Enligt lagförslaget kommer besluten att stänga av illegala fildelare inte att tas av Ofcom utan direkt av regeringen, uppger The Guardian. Modellen motiveras, enligt regeringsdokument som The Guardian refererar till, med att åtgärder måste kunna vidtas snabbt i en tid när Storbritanniens kreativa industrier är hotade.

It other words, the British government is actually saying - straight out - that increasing the profit of the entertainment industry is more important than justice for their citizens. They're not even trying to wrap it in. I'm speechless. Absolutely speechless.

It should come as no surprise that a suggestion like this comes from a country where they have yet to discover the joy of a water tap that can serve them with a pleasing combination of hot and cold water. Technologically impaired bastards.

Congratulations, France!

I guess congratulations are in order, as the French prove that they've got by far the dumbest collection of politicians in the EU, quite possibly in the whole, wide world. Now that's quite an achievement considering all the stupidity out there.

The frogs have just managed to pass an Act so ridiculous, so bizarre, so outrageous that it is bound to go down in the history books. The "Hadopi-law" (yes, it's just as silly as the name implies) gives the government legal rights to terminate a users internet access based on mere allegations that his or her ip-address has been used to perform copyright infringements (yes, exactly, just copyright infringements, not acts of terrorism!). Why bother proving a copyright infringement has taken place? Why bother proving that the owner of the internet subscription was in fact the person performing this alleged infringement? Oh, and of course, why bother the court of law with all this when the government can take matters into its own hands, and terminate internet access on suspicion, taking the opportunity to terminate access for "unpleasant" people who don't share the government's views, and maybe even dare to blog about it ("nöt föör löööng, ju döön't!").

From an integrity, privacy, free speech and legal point of view this law is a complete disaster, of course. It promotes a massive surveillance and censorship, and it bypasses all judicial authority. To be quite honest, it sounds like president Nicolas Sarkozy is aiming for the big league now, with the likes of Fidel Castro, Kim Jong-il and the CPC, to mention a few.

The question now is: To what lengths will the French go in order to enforce this law? Will every French computer be fitted with a piece of spyware controlled by the government, in order to keep track of those who are banned from internet access, and make sure nothing illegal or government unfriendly is distributed in any way? If so, how do these dumb, French bastards intend to deal with Wi-Fi hotspots and internet cafés? Shut them all down, I presume? And if a friend provides a banned individual (or "non-person", as George Orwell calls them in his "1984" novel) with internet access through his own network, will he also be banned?