Germans have this thing with G words. You know, like Gier (greed) or Geld (money)? Your money, actually (and their greed). If you live here, that is.

Whether it’s the Gebühreneinzugszentrale (the television fee collecting central office or GEZ) or the GEMA (Germany‘s music royalty organization) or even the Government itself, all of these wonderful agencies are out to collect taxes, fees and royalties. And all of this is for your own good, of course. And this is so because, well, if they didn’t do it, no one else would.

And that is why as of yesterday, Google (another G Word, by the way) no longer allows users with German IP addresses to watch music videos on YouTube. Negotiations broke down between the music industry and Google over compensation for copyright holders because the GEMA wants, well, way too much. But like I said, they’re only doing this for your own good. And mine, too.

Hey, wait a minute. Come to think of it, German is a G Word, too.

“In addition to this squabbling over the per-song licensing rate, GEMA accused Google of a lack of transparency when it comes to which songs were played, and how many times they were played.”