2000 Liberate not legislate For some reason every other news story this week seems to have mentioned the European Union or the European Commission. By Andy Redfern And having woken up , they've decided that the only way to solve the problems and shortfalls of the technology is to legislate. I become more and more convinced that the European institutions will never shake off the bureaucratic practices that tie down most of what they do in miles of endless red tape. And the biggest problem is that every new idea it has seems to add to bureaucratic burden. For example , look at this week's story that the EU has given permission for the creation of a .EU domain.
Phrases involving horses bolting and stable doors closing come to mind.
Perhaps five years ago the EU could have created a splash with a new domain. But not any more. This measure seems to be fuelled by a few whinging businesses that have cybersquatters sitting on their preferred URLs. Difficult to see how this approach will solve the problem. The EU always struggles to act quickly .