Originally Posted by VGeorgie

GG, You demonstrate you're not aware of the context of Kroes' comments, and why they were made to the symposium. It wasn't about fair use -- more to the point, what *you* define as fair use -- but territorial licensing.

Example: US publishers by-and-large do not license their electronic books for distribution outside North America. Those licensing deals are made through distribution partners, most of whom pay upfront fees that offset the cost of publishing. The EU wants to break down the old territorial distribution barriers, but as foreign distribution rights can help pay for new works to be published (by spreading out the costs) there are no overnight fixes.

The EU, like all governing bodies, doesn't want to relax (what you see as) fair use. They want to find new TAXES and they see slow adoption of non-territorial digital rights management as spurring piracy, which they can't tax. They don't share your fair use utopia goals, dude.