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Europe IV: The Final Hour

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    Labour have confirmed that their broadband plans effectively involve the government creating a new telecommunications firm, which is government-controlled, which would provide the service.

    I'm not sure how I feel about the internet access for the entire country being controlled directly by the government. :unsure:

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      Was telecommunications not government owned in the past in the UK?

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        Originally posted by Dogg Thang View Post
        Was telecommunications not government owned in the past in the UK?
        It was, until 1984. However, that obviously pre-dates people in general having internet access.

        This is very much a personal tilt; for me, one of the internet's greatest strengths is that it exists in this nebulous cultural space which is partially outside of government oversight. Sure, that has brought about problems. Maybe I'm just an idealist. There's just something about the 90s vision of how the internet would unite humanity not through the power structures of governments, but rather by going around them and empowering regular people.

        It seems so silly in retrospect in 2019.

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          Especially as that doesn’t happen because the ‘90s vision is long gone. The internet is not some free people’s utopia. It is controlled by incredibly large corporations who will do everything they can get away with to take as much as they can while giving as little in return.. I don’t have much trust for government but my trust for large corporations looking out for the best interests of citizens is considerably lower.

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            I not sure I'd agree the internet is controlled by corporations. Google might hoard a lot of data, but if it disappeared the internet would still exist. The only reason these companies have any power is because people choose to give them their data and there are a number of movements to take control of the data back, not least of which is Tim Berners-Lee's project named Solid.

            The reality is you shouldn't trust anyone with your personal data.

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              While that is true and my trust for the Googles and Facebooks of the world would be as low as trust can get, really what’s more relevant with what is being proposed here is the control that telecommunications companies have over your access to the internet. And it has been governments (along with, I guess somewhat ironically, the likes of Google) that have prevented them from sectioning it off bit by bit so they can nickel and dime everyone to make more money.

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                I'm assuming that part of the fibre issue as well is still the areas that fit within the existing fast speeds areas too. As tech progresses the amount of data being transferred increases and the infrastructure that works now will also continue to need replacing and upgrading so the entire network is constantly in a state of upgrade. When our works was based in Manchester City Centre we did okay speed wise but the engineers they sent out made no bones about how much of the cities network was old or too complicated due to years of constant building work and changes in the city to make repairs and upgrading easy. It would be easy for it to fall behind and that's in a location with a much stronger level of support than most areas. We moved out the centre a few years back and the connection is miles better for it.



                Australia demands compensation for the disruption Brexit has caused to their trade



                The Venice Council rejects plans to deal with the effects of climate change... then moments later is flooded.

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                  Originally posted by Neon Ignition View Post


                  Australia demands compensation for the disruption Brexit has caused to their trade
                  For the disruption it will cause, not for any disruption caused so far. Basically when we leave the EU there's suddenly a new player in the WTO (Britain) and that will disrupt things. I guess normally if a country wants to join the WTO then there are all kinds of things that have to happen before that's allowed but when Britain leaves the EU we just suddenly arrive in the WTO and **** everything up for other countries.

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                    That's not true, we're not just going to be able to start trading on our current WTO terms. The UK isn't a member of the WTO in its own right, it's membership is tied through the EU.

                    The WTO isn't happy with the UK wanting the same terms it current enjoys with its EU ties when it leaves, so the UK is having to negotiate with the WTO over quotas and tarrifs too. I don't believe these negotions have been finalised yet (I hadn't read anything to that affect anyway).

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                      Police have opened an investigation into the Tories on the basis of electoral fraud following the claims that bribes to Brexit Party members are being made.

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                        The yank corps dont own anything in the EU like they do in the USA where they literally make the rules as they see fit. The EU keeps a really tight grip on what their allowed to do in EU countries.

                        Companies like comcast & verizon simply wouldn’t survive over here as their entire business strategy revolves around monopolies and non competitive back hand deals with each other.

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                          What like VW?

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                            Whats that got to do with internet companies as per my comments? Also the VW scandal was hidden from the ground up to the very top, the ceos and executives and people in the chain are actually facing jail time.

                            Its a well know fact that the yank internet companies would last 5 seconds in the EU as their sole business strategy is monopolisation & non compete packs with their “rivals”.
                            Last edited by fishbowlhead; 16-11-2019, 12:53.

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                              Originally posted by vanpeebles View Post
                              Why are the battlebusses so disappointing.

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                                I want to see hatches for cannons.

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