{"id":5586,"date":"2018-06-13T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T13:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/masspirates.org\/blog\/?p=5586"},"modified":"2018-06-12T22:19:22","modified_gmt":"2018-06-13T02:19:22","slug":"stop-the-eus-link-tax-and-internet-censorship-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/masspirates.org\/blog\/2018\/06\/13\/stop-the-eus-link-tax-and-internet-censorship-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop the EU’s Link Tax and Internet Censorship Bill!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Julia Reda, Pirate Party MEP for Germany, drew our attention to the upcoming European Parliament Legal Affairs Committee vote on June 20th<\/a>\u00a0on Article 13 of the EU\u2019s Copyright Directive. If passed, it will impose a link tax and setup a copyright censorship system. By adopting such a system, the EU will embolden every authoritarian government to expand Internet censorship, aid the copyright maximalists attempt to lock down our culture and end up helping large incumbent corporations like Facebook and Google at the expense of small companies. Please read her post below and share it with any EU residents you know. Thanks!<\/em><\/p>\n

With two weeks to go until the crucial vote<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>in the European Parliament, more and more people are becoming aware of the looming plans for \u201ccensorship machines<\/a>\u201d and a \u201clink tax<\/a>\u201d in the EU. (Catch up on these plans here.<\/a>) People are realising:<\/p>\n

Our freedom to upload media and share links, and thus to express ourselves online, is under threat.<\/i>Tweet this!<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Article 13 of the Copyright Directive will force internet platforms (social networks, video sites, image hosts, etc.) to install\u00a0<\/span>upload filters\u00a0<\/strong>to monitor all user uploads for copyrighted content, including in images \u2013 and thus block most memes, which are usually based on copyrighted images.<\/p>\n

Every vote counts<\/h2>\n

It currently looks like there is a\u00a0<\/span>razor-thin majority in favor of Article 13.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>The negotiators for the\u00a0<\/span>EPP<\/acronym><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>(conservatives),\u00a0<\/span>ALDE<\/acronym><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>(liberals),\u00a0<\/span>ECR<\/acronym><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>(eurosceptic conservatives) and\u00a0<\/span>ENF<\/acronym><\/a>(anti-EU far right) in the Legal Affairs Committee recently expressed their support for the latest version of Article 13.<\/p>\n

Together, these groups have 13 votes on the Legal Affairs Committee \u2013\u00a0<\/span>one more than the opposition:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Share this image! Licence: Public domain<\/span><\/figure>\n

It will come down to every single vote.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Our mission until June 20: Make it clear to at least one MEP who\u2019s currently undecided or in favour that their constituents want them to reject these plans. The NGO EDRi has made a\u00a0<\/span>list of key swing votes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We can do this! And\u00a0<\/strong>your contribution could make the crucial difference.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Every single call, every share and every campaign idea could be the one that saves our freedoms online from being restricted.<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

What are they thinking?<\/h2>\n

To convince these MEPs, we need to understand what we\u2019re up against.<\/p>\n

Big corporate lobbies<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>are demanding these laws, hoping to make additional profits and gain more control over the web, after missing out on much of the digital transformation. Publicly, they insist these laws are necessary to protect European cultural industries from exploitation by foreign internet platforms. The link tax is even supposed to single-handedly \u201csave journalism\u201d.<\/p>\n

That narrative gets some politicians\u2019 attention, because these are laudable goals and the underlying problems are real: Funding for quality journalism is indeed under pressure. Google and Facebook do have a worrying amount of power and aren\u2019t contributing enough to the European economy.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0<\/span>independent experts agree<\/a>: Copyright law isn\u2019t the source of these problems, and\u00a0<\/span>these plans won\u2019t fix them.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>In fact, they may well backfire \u2013 and they are certain to\u00a0<\/span>cause collateral damage to freedom of expression and harm independent creators, small publishers and startups.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Tweet this!<\/a><\/p>\n

So let your MEP know: You understand the problems they\u2019re trying to fix, but this law is not an appropriate and proportionate solution. It\u2019s not in the public interest.<\/p>\n

\"\"Share this image! Licence: Public domain<\/span><\/figure>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Intense pressure<\/h2>\n

What makes this fight particularly hard: The other side is playing dirty, according to multiple reports.<\/p>\n

A year and a half ago, the Commissioner who proposed this law came right out and\u00a0<\/span>urged publishers to\u00a0<\/span>convince their journalists to stop criticising it<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>(turn on subtitles for an English translation).<\/p>\n

In an article titled\u00a0<\/span>\u201cAre German publishers\u00a0<\/span>Axel Springer<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>using [German governing party] CDU to\u00a0<\/span>strong-arm Brussels?<\/strong>\u201d,<\/em>\u00a0an EU insider\u00a0reported:<\/a>\u00a0\u201cRumours are abound in Brussels of\u00a0<\/span>the lengths they<\/strong>\u2018re willing to go to<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/em>to push this law through.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that several members of our committee have come under\u00a0<\/span>huge pressure<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>to vote in favour of this particular proposal. The German CDU [\u2026] has been reportedly pressuring them [\u2026] there have been\u00a0<\/span>reports of threats<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>of members not being allocated reports and parliamentary positions if, basically, they don\u2019t do as they are told\u201d<\/em>, an MEP revealed under the cover of anonymity in another article \u2013 before it was\u00a0<\/span>taken offline and edited<\/a>\u00a0to replace that quote with an official statement by the publishers\u2019 lobby.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndependent evidence is ignored<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>in response to heavy lobbying\u201d<\/em>, experts from leading research centres across Europe\u00a0complained in an open letter<\/a>. In the Parliament, academic evidence\u00a0was held back<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>or\u00a0<\/span>\u201cbalanced out\u201d with specifically-ordered cheerleading<\/a>, as I\u2019ve documented on this blog.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CDU and Axel Springer will try their best, and needless to say the other side will be under-represented by comparison\u201d<\/em>,\u00a0<\/span>NewEurope<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>concluded.\u00a0<\/span>It\u2019s up to all of us to balance out that situation.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Will you do your part?\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Tweet this!<\/a><\/p>\n

Call your MEP now<\/h2>\n

Please use any one of the following free tools to\u00a0<\/span>call your MEP right now<\/strong>. I know calling politicians doesn\u2019t come natural to most people, but it\u2019s their job to represent you, and it\u2019s more effective than you think!\u00a0Here\u2019s a guide to help you with what to say.<\/a><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Save Your Internet<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>by the Copyright4Creativity alliance<\/li>\n
  2. Change Copyright<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>by Mozilla, the makers of Firefox<\/li>\n
  3. Save The Link<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>by the NGO OpenMedia<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Once you\u2019ve done that,\u00a0<\/span>tell your friends<\/strong>\u00a0on social media. Be proud that you\u2019ve taken action, and inspire others to follow your example.<\/p>\n

    One final note<\/h2>\n

    Are you frustrated you have to constantly fight to defend your digital rights? You and me both.<\/p>\n

    But it\u2019s important to me to underscore that the solution to bad legal proposals and unbalanced lobbying is not to curse or even advocate leaving the EU. (In fact, it\u2019s Anti-EU, Euro-skeptic and right-wing parties that are responsible for giving these proposals majority support in the Committee! Don\u2019t let Eurosceptic politicians get away with voting in favour of breaking the Internet and then blaming the EU for it later!)<\/p>\n

    These problems exist at the national level as well, and regulating the internet in 28 different ways on one continent is utterly unworkable.\u00a0The way forward is to participate fully in the EU political process<\/strong>: Pay more attention to EU lawmaking in its early stages, demand reporting on it from your local media, support European civil society organisations fighting for your rights\u00a0(such as\u00a0<\/span>EDRi<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Liberties.eu<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Access Info<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>or\u00a0<\/span>Corporate Europe Observatory<\/a>)\u00a0and strengthen progressive parties at the ballot box.<\/p>\n

    Then we\u2019ll be able to fight for positive change, and not just defend against the worst proposals. Until we get there: Grit your teeth and pick up the phone! The internet is worth it.<\/p>\n

    To the extent possible under law, the creator has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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