European Law Will Stifle Innovation
from the oh,-now-they-tell-us dept
Last week, the new European Union anti-piracy law got some attention, as people feared that some of the terms were too draconian. Now, some UK politicians are speaking up pointing out how the law might stifle innovation in Europe. They make some very good points about why the law is too broad, and how important points are left to be interpreted later. They’re especially what it might mean for those who create free software – much of which is helping to drive innovation. Thinking about this, though, brings up an interesting element of political rhetoric. It seems that politicians like to announce a problem, and then come up with a law to solve that problem. Then, anyone who says they’re against the law is considered against solving that problem. No one takes into consideration two very important issues: (1) is the problem really what they say it is and (2) if it is a problem, will this law actually solve it? Apparently, there’s little to no room for nuanced debate in the political process. Everything is simply “for” or “against”. Thus, it’s nice to see some politicians willing to stand up and say “yes, there is a problem, but this is not the way to solve it.”
