Stupidy stupidy stupid, as Baldrick one said.
On Wednesday, a European Union committee will vote on Article 11, a proposal to create a new copyright over links to news stories. If the proposal is adopted, a service that publishes a link to a story on a news website with a headline or a short snippet would have to get a license before linking. News sites could charge whatever they want for these licenses, and shut down critics by refusing to license to people with whom they disagreed. And the new rule would apply to any service where a link to a news story can appear, including social media platforms, search engines, blogging platforms, and even nonprofits like Wikipedia.
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/9k8vd5/europe-link-tax-copyright-reform
I don't get it. If the European Parliament only listens to big corporate interests, why did it pass the GDPR?
ReplyDeleteWhy do articles need to tell their readers, who need to speak up to their representatives, that they're powerless and there is nothing they can do?
Well to the first part, it doesn't. This vote was from a small committee who I'd guess simply do not understand what the internet is. The rest of parliament may fare better. I remember similarly stupid laws making it through the committee stage only to be defeated by enormous majorities in the main parliament. There was one in particular that the Blender lot were concerned with, to the point of recommending which party to vote for... including UKIP. I'm afraid time has largely clouded my memory on that one and Google reveals a few similar incidents.
ReplyDeleteAs to the second part, I don't get that impression from this article.
Ian Rawlings Got any links ? I tried reading the bill itself, but it's rather long.
ReplyDeleteI dunno, I still feel it's incredibly stupid. It might be OK except that much of the internet is run by large companies who will be susceptible to the law, so effectively it requires largely American companies to get an awful lot of power over content. Unnecessary and unworkable, in my view.
ReplyDelete