During the week of March 25, the European Parliament will hold the final vote on the Copyright Directive, the first update to EU copyright rules since 2001; normally this would be a technical affair watched only by a handful of copyright wonks and industry figures, but the Directive has become the most controversial issue in EU history, literally, with the petition opposing it attracting more signatures than any other petition in change.org's history.
[...] And on March 23, people from across Europe are marching against the Copyright Directive.
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Last week we wrote a critical analysis of Elizabeth Warren's big plan to break up "big tech." As we noted, there was a lot in the plan that was nonsensical, unsupported by the facts or just plain confused. We'll be talking more about some of these ideas a lot over the next few years I imagine (stay tuned), but there was one line in Warren's plan that deserved a separate post: it appears that a part of Warren's big attack on big tech... is to give a massive handout to Hollywood. Here's the line:
We must help America's content creators — from local newspapers and national magazines to comedians and musicians — keep more of the value their content generates, rather than seeing it scooped up by companies like Google and Facebook.
That may sound rather basic and lacking any details, but what's notable about it is that the language reflects -- almost exactly -- the language used in the EU in support of the absolute worst parts of the EU Copyright Directive (specifically, Article 11 and Article 13). For example, this Q & A page by the Legislative Affairs Committee of the EU Parliament uses quite similar language:
The draft directive intends to oblige giant internet platforms and news aggregators (like YouTube or GoogleNews) to pay content creators (artists/musicians/actors and news houses and their journalists) what they truly owe them;
Why, that sounds quite familiar. Indeed, Warren's announcement even uses "keep more of the value their content generates," which appears to be a reference to the completely made up notion of a "value gap" between what internet platforms make and what they should be paying artists.
The government of Poland has filed a complaint with the European Court of Justice against coypright rules adopted in April.
"This system may result in adopting regulations that are analogous to preventive censorship, which is forbidden not only in the Polish constitution but also in the EU treaties," Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski told public broadcaster TVP Info.
Notably, Poland opposed the measure, and did so
despite the national newspapers running blank front pages the day before the key vote, with op-eds threatening retaliation against Polish politicians who crossed them.
The directive passed by five votes, but possibly it shouldn't have included the two most controversial provisions.
In the EU, if a Member of the Parliament presses the wrong button on a vote, they can have the record amended to show what their true intention was, but the vote is binding.
Today, the European Parliament voted to pass the whole Copyright Directive without a debate on Articles 11 and 13 by a margin of five votes.
But actually, a group of Swedish MEPs have revealed that they pressed the wrong button, and have asked to have the record corrected. They have issued a statement saying they'd intended to open a debate on amendments to the Directive so they could help vote down Articles 11 and 13.
Previous coverage
Europe's Controversial Overhaul of Online Copyright Receives Final Approval
EU Copyright Directive Vote Set for Tuesday
It Sure Sounds Like Elizabeth Warren Wants To Bring The EU Copyright Directive Stateside
Tens of thousands rally across Europe protesting EU Copyright 'Reform'
Protesters Will March Against the European Copyright Directive on the 23rd, Ahead of Final Vote
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday March 20 2019, @03:01PM (15 children)
Since when do politicians, paid for by bribe money, care about what protesters think?
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 20 2019, @03:08PM (6 children)
When European elections are only 1 month out, you got a very good shot.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 20 2019, @09:50PM (5 children)
It would be instructive to know which parties voted for or against these articles. I have looked (earlier, directly following the september vote), but failed to find a voting register for it. Got a link? I want to know which parties I can still safely vote for.
(Score: 2, Informative) by maxwell demon on Wednesday March 20 2019, @10:14PM (3 children)
https://saveyourinternet.eu/ [saveyourinternet.eu]
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 20 2019, @10:55PM (2 children)
Please quote the relevant text from that link that answers my question?
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday March 21 2019, @06:54AM (1 child)
If you are in an EU country you automatically get redirected to a list that very directly answers the question in that country. Since I have no idea which country you are from, I posted the generic link because that would give you a list of members of parties you can vote for. But apparently you're not currently inside the EU. (I assume you're from an EU country, or else you cannot vote for any of those parties anyway, thus the question “which parties I can still safely vote for” would be meaningless.)
Apparently in the generic page there are no obvious links to the country specific lists; that's IMHO a major design flaw of that site. However I now found out that if you click on the red "Act Now" you get to a page that links to a page that indeed links to the country specific lists in an obvious way.
Also it seems to detect proxies (at least the Private Internet Access ones), and then automatically redirects to the page with the country links.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday March 21 2019, @12:57PM
$ w3m -dump https://saveyourinternet.eu/
$
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 20 2019, @10:58PM
Party
Link tax
Censorship machines
EPP
pushing for
pushing for
S&D
resisting
resisting
ECR
mixed
inclined
ALDE
inclined
pushing for
Greens/EFA
resisting
resisting
GUE/NGL
resisting
resisting
EFDD
resisting
resisting
ENF
pushing for
pushing for
Source: https://juliareda.eu/2018/05/censorship-machines-link-tax-finish-line/#parliament [juliareda.eu]
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday March 20 2019, @03:17PM (2 children)
For that reason the protests should be directed at the voters, not the politicians.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday March 20 2019, @03:51PM (1 child)
Isn't that the goal of a protest? It isn't the COPS that protestors want to impress. They may hope to impress politicians. But, it seems the goal of any protest is to get on the news, and thus to sway public opinion. In this case, with elections so close, that public opinion may have the desired impact. Or not.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday March 20 2019, @04:04PM
Depends how "polite" the protesters and their antagonists are, or the message will get lost in the noise.
I still hold out hope for tech (ad hoc networking, etc.) that can render the entire issue moot, regardless how people vote.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday March 20 2019, @03:54PM (3 children)
"We appeal to the Members of the European Parliament to vote against Articles 11 and 13." The Protesters. From the Link the Soylent News Editors left out.
They set their sites too low. Their countries are dieing in the claws of the vicious European Union( our greatest Foe ). So long as you're protesting, why not protest big? Break up E.U.!!!
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday March 20 2019, @04:28PM
link added
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 20 2019, @04:29PM
Bigger! Break up capitalism!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 20 2019, @05:52PM
A better grasp of the English language? :)
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday March 21 2019, @02:39AM
Since 2011-2012, when similar protests killed ACTA [wikipedia.org]
Yeap, those 'European commies' dared to oppose 'unelected bureaucrats' and corporate interests and ended having their way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 20 2019, @04:55PM (2 children)
Just wondering....
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 20 2019, @08:31PM (1 child)
The European Union.
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Wednesday March 20 2019, @09:03PM
Makes me wonder if these reimplentations are a ploy to pass brexit.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 20 2019, @05:52PM
They should kill whoever is the main proponent of this legislation. These shit weasels think they are untouchable. Touch them until they learn otherwise.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday March 20 2019, @06:37PM (2 children)
In one respect, copyright is all too typical of so much legislation. It seeks to lock up and help paywall a great deal of something, in this case works of art and science, so that a small special interest can reap profit that they do not merit or deserve, at the public's expense.
The greedy idiots have made copyright so extreme it's totally out of control and, I am happy to see, has provoked a huge and growing backlash. Stuff like DMCA takedowns that short circuit the due process of checking whether an accusation of copyright infringement has any standing or merit, claiming the ridiculous figure of $75 trillion in damages from piracy with LimeWire, bankrupting people and forcing them to drop out of college for sharing a few songs while shoplifting one CD with the same songs would incur a penalty that's 3 orders of magnitude smaller, getting into fights with farmers over the Right to Repair and even crazier, the very fundamental practice of keeping some seed to grow next year's crop, and bullying and gouging sick people for the drugs they need. Among the many things proponents of extreme intellectual property rights should have done is confined their efforts to art, and left farmers and medical patients out of the fight, instead of pushing them into the opposition. Another group they've riled up against them are scientists and researchers. They're parasites who seem bent on sucking the host dry.
So, how about some extremism in the opposite direction? Violating copyright is not theft, copyright is theft! They steal from the public domain. Even more, copyright is TREASON! How? Education is the link. Education is all about sharing our accumulated knowledge with the next generation. Further, education is thought essential to the functioning of democracy. Voters need education in order to understand and evaluate the choices they are asked to make. Anything that impedes education harms democracy. Harming democracy is treasonous. Copyright erects wholly artificial and unnecessary barriers to the transmission of knowledge that is necessary in education, and the supposed compensation for enduring the blockage is nothing but feeble justifications for why publishers should be allowed to be the gatekeepers of knowledge while they rake in the money for doing nothing beneficial in return.
(Score: 2) by exaeta on Wednesday March 20 2019, @09:30PM
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday March 21 2019, @01:55PM
You may - or may not - be overstating your case. But, that's easy to forgive, since the arsewipes on the opposite side have been overstating THEIR case by orders of magnitude for the past forty years, or more. Never forget Sonny Boner, who helped to open this can of worms up. He was handpicked, and sent to Washington, on behalf of Hollyweird and Disney. May Disney and Boner both burn in hell.
Yeah, I know, that makes me sound like Crazy 'Zumi, but I think it's warranted in their cases.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 20 2019, @09:55PM
Will this increase the power of cloud-aware licenses such as the Affero GPL?