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European Commission Looking to Unify Digital Market in the Region - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 30 March 2015 / 4,112 Views

The European Commission has announced plans to unify the digital market, including games and movies, in the region.

Right now digital distribution services are separated from one country to the next, with varying prices. However, the European Commission wants to get rid of the barriers and have each service with one price across all of Europe.

"Let us do away with all those fences and walls that block us online," said the vice-president for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip. "People must be able to freely go across borders online just as they do offline. Innovative businesses must be helped to grow across the EU, not remain locked into their home market. This will be an uphill struggle all the way, but we need an ambitious start. Europe should benefit fully from the digital age: better services, more participation and new jobs."

"Europe cannot be at the forefront of the digital revolution with a patchwork of 28 different rules for telecommunications services, copyright, IT security and data protection," said the commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society Günther H. Oettinger. "We need a European market, which allows new business models to flourish, start-ups to grow and the industry to take advantage of the internet of things. And people have to invest too – in their IT-skills, be it in their job or their leisure time."

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A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. Outside, in the real world, he has a passion for the outdoors which includes everything from hiking to having received his B.A. in Environmental Studies. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.


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12 Comments
Zenos (on 30 March 2015)

Hopefully they will not go with the lowest common denominator cough Germany cough.

  • +3
SlayerRondo Zenos (on 30 March 2015)

Germany has been very oversensitive to violent material compared to other European countries, partially an over-reaction to their Nazi past.

  • 0
Insidb Zenos (on 30 March 2015)

Unfortunately, with Germany strong-arming the rest of the EU, this will probably be a one-sided endeavor.

  • 0
Michelasso (on 31 March 2015)

And please eliminate that crappy "international calls" charges for calling another Country in the EU. Oh and since they're there, they should also eliminate the awful costs for roaming. Especially the data.

  • +1
Bofferbrauer (on 30 March 2015)

This will become tough because of Germany and their exemptions by BpJM (Bundesprüfstelle für Jugendgefährdende Medien) and USK (Unterhaltungsindustrie Selbstkontrolle) being written into german law. Don't know how they want to bypass this, as overriding it will surely not be acceptable for the german governement. Only way I see would be to officially declare games as an artform, thus being able to bypass the "no swastika" rule just like movies do.

  • 0
binary solo Bofferbrauer (on 31 March 2015)

Interesting. It would be quite a thing for the law of a country to recognise video games as an art form (which they are). But surely this is already the case, or is it not possible to buy Wolfenstein digitally in Germany?

  • 0
TheGreatGamerGod (on 30 March 2015)

When I read this articles title I wrongly assumed they wanted to create an alternative to steam/origin and force users on it.

The actual ideas not too bad, right now if you want to sell a game in Europe on Steam for example you have to register it in all the countries you plan on selling it in, register for VAT in those territories and it can cost tens of thousands to register your business so many don't bother. If this idea does away with that it would be a vast improvement as registering once and selling at one price across Europe. The fly in the Ointment is I don't want to pay in Euros rather than Pounds.

Also...Knowing the EU this will likely never happen at all.

  • 0
Serious_frusting (on 30 March 2015)

Will the eu just piss off. Sick of them putting its giant nose into everything. What are they going to do next ban countries native languages and make them speak one European language.

  • 0
SlayerRondo (on 30 March 2015)

The EU is really not in the position where it should be attempting these kind of things.

Still to do nothing is just an even slower form of death for the EU.

  • 0
artexplosion SlayerRondo (on 30 March 2015)

EU doomed since 1957.

  • 0

Says an Australian who watched foxnews.

  • -2
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