German Cancellarius slams content industry

DURING THE OFFICIAL OPENING ceremony of CeBIT in Hannover, which hardly any non-German journalist ever attends, the German chancellor talked about trends and problems in the IT industry.

Someone must have been burning the candle at both ends writing the speech.

Angela Merkel claimed one of the main reasons for the growth of the IT industry in Germany was the constant reduction in price of accessing the internet in both the business and consumer segments.

She said: "The prices of internet access and mobile internet are constantly reducing, and recently they were cut down by 15 per cent, enabling access to knowledge even more. In my answer to Mr. Wulf* and content industry, while I do agree that it is necessary to protect the rights of content owners, only by reduction of prices you will get more customers".

Sheesh. If she'd said the Federal Republic was bringing back the Ferris Wheel to the fairground in Hannover, she'd probably have got a round of applause. And have deserved one.

She said Germany is constantly fighting red tape. Most states in the federation have entirely different laws which limit the development of the IT industry. µ

* The prime minister of Niedersaschen. Ed.