2012-05-15

Germany Is Not Allowed To Talk In Hangout Air

How low can you go? Who is to blame for that.
The new big thing is going on without Germany...again. "Hangouts on Air" are not available in Germany.

F**k who? Germany or Google?
Not only that you can't start a HoA from a Germany IP, no can't even join one. It's ridiculous. This situation is not acceptable. While some say the "Rundfunkmedienstaatsvertrag", a law in Germany, is too blame, I doubt it. This law would probably violate the constitution and get ousted by the BVerfG, if it really would reach for having a public hangout.

Even if this law would possibly be interfere, I would have demand Google to do it anyway and possibly giving the responsibility to their users. If the Germans can't technically make actions against a malicious law, then the Internet is doomed once and for all. It's a localnet then.
All Google needed to do imho, would have been stating there is no support in other countries, and users need to act according to local laws. So then everyone could go against that in court, if one gets sued by whoever want to sue a private person for having a hangout in public. I'm quite sure such a case would have no substance in court.
But this way, Germans can't do anything. Is Germany still a free country? I mean Saudi Arabia and the UAE are allowed to have Hangouts on Air, and Germany not? Really?

Google, lawyers, politicians, I don't know who to blame, but on Ustream.tv and Justin.tv and many other audio streaming services, you can stream without limits even from Germany. So I would have thought Google had a bit more courage against non-free countries.  Germany apparently doesn't have the same level of free speech than other countries in Europe have. Or is it just that Google didn't launch it there? Like Google Music?