Wikimedia Warns EU Copyright Reform Threatens the 'Vibrant Free Web' (techcrunch.com) 62
The Wikimedia Foundation has sounded a stark warning against a copyright reform proposal in Europe that's due to be voted on by the European Parliament next week. From a report: In the post, also emailed to TechCrunch, Maria Sefidari Huici, chair of the Wikimedia Foundation, writes: "Next week, the European Parliament will decide how information online is shared in a vote that will significantly affect how we interact in our increasingly connected, digital world. We are in the last few moments of what could be our last opportunity to define what the Internet looks like in the future. The next wave of proposed rules under consideration by the European Parliament will either permit more innovation and growth, or stifle the vibrant free web that has allowed creativity, innovation, and collaboration to thrive. This is significant because copyright does not only affect books and music, it profoundly shapes how people communicate and create on the internet for years to come."
Backers of the reform proposals argue they will help European creatives be fairly recompensed for their work. But critics argue the proposals are not balanced and will chill the creative freedoms of web users to share and comment on content online.
Backers of the reform proposals argue they will help European creatives be fairly recompensed for their work. But critics argue the proposals are not balanced and will chill the creative freedoms of web users to share and comment on content online.
Bad stuff (Score:1)
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The creative internet well see EU censorship then create routes around EU gov controls.
The "creative internet" is not hardware and networks, it's the people building and using those resources. The "creative internet" can be prosecuted, imprisoned, or simply taken out back and shot in the head by TPTB. When the government is more powerful than those it governs and has no fear of them, bad things always happen eventually.
"Left" and "Right" is not what we should be talking about, but "Up" and "Down", where "Up" is more authoritarian, bigger government, and "Down" is smaller, less intrusive and m
That's a doozy (Score:4, Insightful)
If this goes through about the only solution for every comment section will be to just geoblock the EU until some gigantic content clearinghouse is created. Even then such a service would be too expensive for most message boards so only players like Facebook and Google will be able to run blogs.
and the 1st amendment will make usa sites safe (Score:3)
and the 1st amendment will make usa sites safe. But they may need to go USA only and block EU
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The first amendment does not allow you to infringe copy rights ...
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Yes, it's the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA which enable what he was talking about, mostly.
OTOH, the First Amendment is the likely inspiration of "fair use" (which is enshrined in the Copyright Act itself, so I don't think we can be sure).
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I don't have problem with it. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. have not made the world a better place. They want to profit from the content uploaded to their platform but don't want to take responsibility for it.
Bullshit.
Fuck 'em all. If its on your servers, you're responsible.
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I don't have problem with it. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. have not made the world a better place. They want to profit from the content uploaded to their platform but don't want to take responsibility for it.
Bullshit.
Fuck 'em all. If its on your servers, you're responsible.
On this point, I agree. Facebook et al. are making money out of copyright infringement and should pay the copyright holders. However, what the proposed laws would do to you and me and startups and hobbyists would be suffocating. That is, if you enjoy engaging in and sharing derivative ideas and works under fair use and like that there are public domain works that everyone can use however they like.
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IP Owners don't like the phrase "vibrant free web." They hate it. They want precisely the opposite, as they believe this is how they will maximize their profits.
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IP Owners don't like the phrase "vibrant free web." They hate it.
Parent AC makes an important point: media cartels do not WANT a free web. They want "television 2.0". The whole thing was an oversight that happened because the internet started in the military, and then academia, and stayed there for decades before it became a public phenomena. By that point the genie had partially left the bottle.
They want nothing more than to put that genie back IN the bottle. And the clueless public can be led by the nose to go right along, since they don't think about their choices
Re:That's a doozy (Score:4, Informative)
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It would basically be impossible to run a site like Slashdot under that requirement.
I was thinking more along the lines of Stackoverflow. There goes our software industry.
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and fox can just copy an old video and then ban it (Score:3)
https://torrentfreak.com/fox-s... [torrentfreak.com]
may end game reviews and Let's play's other then (Score:3)
may end game reviews and Let's play's other then ones picked by the game dev's.
Just think I have this POS game that was rushed out and now I can use the law to take down the bad reviews.
So, effectively EU-exit (Score:3)
Maybe the Brits are leaving a sinking ship just in time...
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From normal commerce.
Hardly. The EU market is large enough that people will bend over backwards to accommodate even stupid decisions. But just like all the stupid laws passed in America people will of course complain about it as they rightfully should.
Don't they lambaste Americans who think that kinda stuff?
America doesn't have a monopoly on stupidity. In fact one would say Americans are part of this big ball we call the world. Europe and others call out America for their stupid decision all the time, and I would argue that I fully expect reply in kind. Lambaste away, the Europeans n
Tabled is different in US/UK/EU speak (Score:1)
She says the proposal is to be tabled.
US Speak - to table something is to take it off the table and not discuss it until later.
UK Speak - to table something is to put it on the table to discuss it now (yes, 180 opposite of US).
EU Speak - nobody knows
The US, for now, still has 47 U.S.C. 230, even as FOSTA/SESTA/Republicans gut it daily. Perhaps The EU will reconsider joining free discourse.
E
europe (Score:1)
The basic issue not spoken ... (Score:2)
... is that publicly-consumed IP has lost its value.
An essential component of demand is the friction encountered when making an acquisition.
In the days of radio, TV, theaters, albums, and live tours, the consumers were far removed from the content.
Nowadays, the Internet provides a well-lubricated "all you can eat," instant buffet of gratification.
--
I'm 72 years old.
I remember Coke being a special, occasional treat.
The go-to beverages for parents were cheaper drinks like tea and Kool Aid.
Same with candy.
Hall
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I think it's disingenuous for us to have two logins, so quit it.
No, you quit it.
No, you.
I'm telling Momma.
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... you were to smart ...