EU vs blogosphere

There is a lot we, the bloggers, use to say about the best and finest in the different circles of government bureaucracy. Usually what we say is not complimentary, but everyone understands the rules of the game. In fact, I used to think so. Until now.

Back in June, MEPs began to complain that unlicensed blogs were "polluting" cyberspace with "misinformation and malicious intent". They wanted "a quality mark, a disclosure of who is writing and why".

Misinformation and malicious intent. No more and no less. That from a MEP, for crying out loud...

At the time, I dismissed it as the ramblings of a single dotty MEP. Not even the European Parliament, I thought, would actually try to censor the internet. I was wrong. We now have the full report and, sure enough, it wants to "clarify the status, legal or otherwise, of weblogs", and to ensure their "voluntary labelling according to the professional and financial responsibilities and interests of their authors and publishers".

Voluntary labeling, professional and financial responsibilities and interests. Go answer this - but I guess a set of appropriate questionnaires will be developed, by a blogging subcommittee EU will create. So it will take no more than a day or two to fill out the forms. Then you are all set to blog. According to prescribed list of topics and conclusions.

Besides, if EU creates a standard blogger uniform with rank (based on Technorati and Google data, of course), unit badge, distinguished service medals and stuff - why not? It could even be fun, I suggest.

Not bad, and I suspect that in something like 50 to 80 years I might come around to appreciate the EU potato-heads' stance on blogging.

Meanwhile, dear EU chiefs, label this (voluntarily):

Via Andrew Ian Dodge.