Something is rotten in the state of ...

You see I do quote Shakespeare, but without naming the country. Because the important issue is not what country it is, but instead that the quote explicitly says in the state of as it (as is explained on enotes.com) is maybe more important to point out it is in the leadership, the state, things have to start to change.

Tons of people do a good job in various Governments and governmental organisations, but, the coordination is bad. The optimization is local, both regarding subject and in time. Coordination must be better between various interest areas. For example, as my friend Roger Wallis said in an email:


This problem has to be addressed and fixed otherwise a new i2015 programme
will achieve as little as the i2010 in areas such as content on line,
citizens as prosumers, innovation based on improving existing ideas
(without this being stopped by draconian IPR/Patent legislation.

We can se that DG Info Society/Media, DG Internal Market and DG competition
are not in sync.

i2010 predicted a simple one stop shop on line clearing system for
digital rights - this has not happened - and this is a major problem for
those staring new innovative digital services.

I think it is even the other way around. How come Spotify can not release their product world wide? Simply because they can not reach agreements with whoever they have to have agreements with (more on that later). And that the agreements are on a country by country basis. Similar with BBC iPlayer. And SvT Play. Some programs transmitted in the UK on the Terrestial network is not available over the Internet if BBC guesses the user is in the UK. SvT Play is not available in all countries – and not all programs. Sommar is not available over the Internet with music. SvT and SR writes license to cellphone operators to distribute their live transmissions – but for example in Denmark and not in Sweden.

Do you really think the average Internet user, 19 years old, do understand these artificial blockings that are based on some nonsense guessing of where in the world the user is?

As long as this contractual dead locks exists, and agreements are written that for example make it impossible for me to listen to Swedish Radio wherever I am on the planet, people will continue to violate the rules the holder of IPR set.

Excuse the language I use, but as long as the listeners feel they are screwed up, they will screw up back.

This Nonsense Just Must Stop! Link to heading

If I am a paying subscriber to Spotify, I take for granted I should be able to use it all over the world. Of course this can both be Spotify that do not pay the rights holders enough, or vice versa. But people in general think it is the Music Industry (the large companies as Roger is explaining it, not the musicians) that are the ones that prohibit them from listening to the service they love.

That is the overall problem that must be resolved. And both the current and the previous government in Sweden (and the previous parliament) said in various wording that It is important a consumer of a service can access the service regardless of where and when he wants to do it.

Time to live up to that promise and take those words seriously!

Because this is serious.

I.e. it is very very simple to say what things we all MUST work on 2010-2015.

It does not matter whether it is the provider of services (Spotify, SvT, SR, BBC, …), or their counterpart that is blocking further movement in the discussions. The customers of theirs are not happy. And the question is only how bad things must become before everyone actually understand the problem must be resolved.

I thought the situation was bad enough three years ago.