International Law

Techdirt wonders whether internet censorship should be treated as a trade barrier:

I'm generally wary of attempts to use international trade agreements to bludgeon through other policies. For example, Hollywood has used that system for ages to force through bad copyright laws on other nations.  So, consider me a bit skeptical to hear that the EU is now looking to claim that internet censorship should be considered a trade barrier. I certainly respect the reasoning, that internet censorship is bad, and it's not a good idea to encourage such policies. However, tying it to trade agreements is likely to open a potentially dangerous can of worms, while probably having little to no impact on getting censoring countries to change their policies.

Read it here.