Governments hate what they can't control. As far as I am concerned the government has no right to do anything to the internet. And they shouldn't be able to tax it either. They don't do anything to contribute to the internet, they don't own it. It's not a public utility. It would be like the government trying to tax the air.

Amen!
The last chance to stop it is the vote in the European Parliament on Tuesday.

I get the impression that the EU parliament has never cared one bit what the people want. Heck, they didn't even let the people vote on joining the EU in many countries.

Thats because when a country joins the EU its actually wanted by the mayority of people. Even in the UK the mayority wanted to join back in 1972.. Despite of all of its flaws the EU IS a great thing,it has brought lasting peace in a continent that was constantly at war with itself for milennia and gives small nations a vioce in a world where they would be eaten alive by the large powers like Russia, China and, yes, also the USA. Europe is stronger together, we just need to manage it better. Thats why we have elections. The next election of the European parliament is in May. And after this whole mess with the copyright law I allready know who I will vote for and for who I will not.

It was my understanding that they never allowed the people in Britain to vote on joining the EU was because they knew the vote would fail. I think the same thing happened in Spain. Now, when a politician does something without the consent of the people you KNOW he's going to say, well, it's what they really want. The victors write history, so we are to believe that's what the people wanted.
The EU might have been a good idea in theory, but they way they micromanaged everyone's lives from the beginning makes me mistrust it, not as an American but as a human being. Telling sovereign nations how much they can charge for wool or where they can fish or what crops they have to raise is too much. Too much government is never a good thing.

Well, there we have probably different opinions. I think a strong state with an effective bureocraty is necessary for order in society. Of course it must be ensured that the state works for the people, not the other way around. As long as the EU and the gouverments of memberstates work in the interest of its peoples everything is allright. If they do not, well thats what we have elections for. No gouverment is in power forever. And as it seems in the upcoming elections the conservative and socialdemocratic parties will cash their cheque when more people vote for other parties, like the greens, the pirates, the socialists or the right wing parties.