Europe's Controversial Overhaul of Online Copyright Receives Final Approval:
Articles 11 and 13 both approved by European politicians.
The European Union has given its final approval to the Copyright Directive, a controversial package of legislation designed to update copyright law in Europe for the online age.
Members of the European Parliament voted 348 in favor of the law, 274 against.
For advocates of the legislation, the directive will balance the playing field between US tech giants and European content creators, giving copyright holders more power over how big internet platforms distribute their content. But critics say the law is vague and poorly thought-out, and will restrict how content is shared online, stifling free speech in the process.
Politicians have been debating the legislation for more than two years now, with fierce lobbying from both tech giants and copyright holders pushing the argument back and forth. Despite some setbacks, though, the most controversial clauses of the Copyright Directive have remained intact, and were approved today with only minor changes.
Julia Reda, an MEP from Germany's Pirate Party, said the passing of the law marked "a dark day for internet freedom."
What changes, if any, will this cause where you work?
Previously: EU Copyright Directive Vote Set for Tuesday
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 27 2019, @07:18AM
At the end of the day, the flow (or non-flow) of dollars/euros will determine the final outcome. It may take a little while to get the legislators to understand, but hard economics usually works pretty quickly. So whichever way this develops will be interesting.