The Death of Sharing Media: EU Approves Copyright Directive with 'Link Tax' and 'Upload Filter'
A major turning point has arrived in how media can be shared and propagated online. Today the European Parliament has approved the Copyright Directive at 438 for and 226 against. This will update and expand online copyright laws, and change the landscape of how big and small companies can use information from other sites.
Source, Source
The Copyright Directive had a first attempt at being approved in July, but was shot down due to criticism of Articles 11 and 13 which have been called the link tax and upload filter, respectively. This time around, modifications were made with Articles 11 and 13 amended to apparently make it more appeasing. A final vote is coming in January 2019, but experts say it's unlikely to be rejected there either. Then EU members states get to choose how they interpret the directive as a law.
Articles 11 and 13 are the core of the Copyright Directive. Article 11, the 'link tax' is about how links to content is used. Publishers and papers are going to be able to demand paid licenses from other sites if they want to be able to use their news stories.
The biggest target is Google, with news sites not liking how Google News uses their news stories. They don't want to let Google have a link to their site with the news story as the link title, without getting paid for it of course. This is imposing a 'tax' of sorts on sites like Google News for being able to share news story content.
Article 13 is another restriction on how sites can use content to stop them from sharing unlicensed copyright material. The big targets in this case are Facebook and YouTube. Whereas Google is only using the name of the news story and linking to the sites for people to go read, Facebook and YouTube content often has copyrighted content be shared or used in videos. The copyright owners want the money to roll in for people using it, even if they aren't making money, as YouTube and Facebook do make money from people using their site.
Dubbed the 'upload filter', companies would have to proactively work to stop users from uploading copyright content. Sites would then have to scan all the data that gets uploaded in order to make sure it's not copyrighted. This will impose a burden, especially on smaller sites. This could lead to even more censorship.
Advocates for the Copyright Directive dismiss any concerns as fearmongering by big tech companies that want to keep control over their platforms. Exemptions have been made to allow sites like Github and Wikipedia to allow sharing of hyperlinks and individual words that describe the articles.
But, what about everyone else? The EU has sanctioned copyright violations things like sharing links and using words from media articles. Sharing content will be heavily impacted. Forget about Facebook sharing of content, pictures and links. The copyright police will take it down, or even ban you for doing what the platform was intended to do. This could spell the death of Facebook and online social media sharing in general.
The impact the Copyright Directive will have if approved in January 2019 are far reaching. The extent of how it will be applied has yet to be seen. Maybe it won't be so bad, but the potential can be grave. It might disrupt the whole way most people use the internet now, fracturing the popularity of social media.
Note that Steemit Inc. updated it's ToS earlier this year, saying it would comply with EU laws. I think they foresaw the potential application of the Copyright Directive when it was being drafted and first rejected. This means anyone who is or has been posting copyrighted material through Steemit Inc. could face issues. Maybe Steemit Inc. will just filter out posts or media that violates EU laws, who knows.
References:
- EU approves controversial Copyright Directive, including internet ‘link tax’ and ‘upload filter’
- Parliament adopts its position on digital copyright rules
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Wow tightening restrictions on sharing is scaring - good that it counters Google's freeloading practices but has interesting free speech implications
Well google is only link aggregating, not posting article for users to merely stay there. It's a news hub to go to other sits through links as I understand...
This desire to control will result in 2 things, 1- using blockchain to manage the identity and authenticity and distribution of digital media, and 2- the creation of serverless decentralized anonymous social media that is fully encrypted in transit with when the html/css/etc code not hosted anywhere in particular.
Prohibition produces profit and incentive to circumvent... Ask your local drug dealer!
Posted using Partiko Android
LOL, black market internet here we come :P
Interesting and concerning and I'm sure they'll keep trying to control as much as they can, meanwhile those who believe in the other side of the coin will continue to find new ways to share things and.. This battle of ideas will probably wage on for a while. Will definitely be interesting to see how it plays out, if they try to censor too much.. They could end up regretting it.
yeah, squeeze too much and you get a rebellion ;)
There's other ways to skin cats than EU approved mechanisms. Rather than rebelling against the EU, I expect the internet itself to be expressed such that middlemen like Big Tech will no longer be gatekeepers, and neither will the EU.
Bench comes to mind.
I recently made a movie on the subject I plan on releasing soon.(Which
I think could possibly get me banned from YouTube) Hopefully it doesn't get to the point of physical violence and we can move forward peacefully but.. They might push too far. Time will tell.
The EU needs to fucking die. These monster bureaucracies always turn out bad. Why won't people just learn, huh?
Don't worry. It'll fall on its own weight. The only problem is when, and the waiting game is tough. There is also the fallout and people trying "to not let a crisis go to waste".
Why is it natural instinct to think passive action will provide results? We are creating our own prisons.
We should not try to organize to do anything to change our fates and take back control :P
Yeah, centralized authority at higher and higher levels is shit
The beings that live in the dark, need control.
And control is slipping from their finger tips.
So, they turn up what used to work to 11.
What they do not realize is that the tighter they try to hold sand in their hands, the more slips out.
Soon, we will abandon the internet
and all of us will move to the interconnects.
Yup, they will change how the net is used and that will make people rebel to regain their lost freedom they took for granted
LOL, the future of the internet in Europe :P
Note that Steemit Inc. updated it's ToS earlier this year, saying it would comply with EU laws. I think they foresaw the potential application of the Copyright Directive when it was being drafted and first rejected. This means anyone who is or has been posting copyrighted material through Steemit Inc. could face issues. Maybe Steemit Inc. will just filter out posts or media that violates EU laws, who knows.
Of this discussions need definitely be made at steemfest in Krakow and the positions clarified.
Please suggest it in the talks hehe.
Laaaaaaaame that Steemit even bothered bowing down. Thought we were decentralized ? Why would we bother with the EU? WTF? Be about your shit or dont. FREEDOM shall WIN. RESPECT
Many Steemers are in the EU. Either Steemit is going to conform, or all the Steemers in the EU will be forcibly prevented from using Steemit.
It is the internet - not Steemit - that this attack is targeting. That's not a fight Steemit can win, but it's one that will be fought, and I am confident Steemit will be in there.
There are moves afoot right now to create a mesh network to replace the http: protocol. If that works, the EU will be completely null and void as affecting the content shared online.
But they jumped on board before being 'forced ' too..so NO..they will not fight. It seems they will lie down to preserve their interests . One does not just comply and then plan to fight. WE fight from day one.
I was going to reply to just one of your comments, but this one I think deserves, and has, a separate answer.
Sun Tzu wrote 'The Art of War'. Surrender is a tactic that can win a war. Not every battle can be won, and it is the war that matters. Not fighting battles you can't win leaves your forces intact for battles you might win.
Just fighting back when you're attacked, instead of considering all the options, including running away and recruiting more for the next battle (for example), will guarantee defeat.
Every battle is won before the forces are engaged.
All of these principles apply in this engagement, as well as wars fought with spears, guns, and missiles.
Indeed, thank you for this wisdom. I do have the weakness or flaw of just fighting. I need work on restraint and controlled engagement . RESPECT
It is like ANON..with all that power they do not fix shit. FAKE NEWS. I just wished people would be about what they preach. Key board activists, scared to actually do anything.
Or..wait..maybe the ALPHA version will have balls? The more and more I look around..the less I like what I see. We are the disenfranchised..the decentralized..the underground.we should NEVER conform.
I deeply resonate with your concerns, as I all too often run into talk that isn't walked. That being said, I have thought hard about discussion that occurred when the Steemit ToS was introduced.
Full Disclosure: I never accepted the ToS, and post with Busy, or Steempeak presently, so I have issues that I reckon haven't been addressed in my correspondence with [email protected] and others. I'm not just a fanboy, but walk my critical talk in this matter.
I didn't expect Steemit to bow to the EU myself, and was as surprised as anyone by the ToS. While that contributed to my failure to adopt the ToS at the time, it isn't why I remain a dissenter now.
I don't think Steemit's anticipatory acceptance of EU edicts reflects poorly on Steemit in this case. As I pointed out, Steemit isn't the target, merely one of the casualties of an attack by a juggernaut on the internet itself.
I think Steemit could only resist the EU by committing suicide, and there's no point in that, as it would have no beneficial impact on the EU, and be devastating for you and I, and every Steemer.
I remain confident that Stinc will be eager to participate in effective action, such as the mesh network protocol that will actually benefit folks impacted by the EU's regulation by making it obsolete.
I am here because Steemit is censorship resistant - not for financial rewards - and I see that as the real point of a blockchain social media platform, not rewards. Any crypto could have served up rewards. Only the blockchain makes censorship resistance innate and effective.
Also, Alpha is the version that isn't released to Beta testers because it's too buggy. Omega is the end product.
tl;dr Steemit's ToS wasn't avoidable in terms of capitulating to the EU. The only alternative was the death of Steemit. The real battle will be a technological assault on regulation itself, and I am confident Steemit will be in it.
I appreciate your response. I usually tend to react with emotion and less restraint or cal m headed thinking when I see these things happen. Thank you for interacting with me in a way that is constructive and helpful.I do not think I accepted the ToS either. RESPECT
Yeah it sucks, but companies have laws to follow in jurisdictions. Steemit Inc. is a company, Steem is the blockchain that is separate from it.
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I saw this today. This, I think, is going to be a very big deal. We have to get out as much info, showing our source information as always, as possible. Literally flood the internet with information and Memes. Why not.
Do it until they stop you. Those memes are somewhat an issue, as they are copyrighted too. If people didn't share copyrighted stuff then the wouldn't have a leg to stand on. But then it's harder to find media for that :/