I just received an email from creativecommons.org that is highly disturbing. A European Union committee has recommended that a regulation be put in place that would stifle a huge portion of the functions of the internet. This idea is clearly inspired by corporate interests but its effects would be so devastating to the use of the internet as we know it that it amounts to a fascist attack against the bottom-up democracy, freedom and re-distribution of power that the internet has brought to the world.
Here's the contents of the emailfrom creative commons:
Tell the European Parliament to stop the harmful copyright proposalThis website addressed the requirements of the European privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). But if the EU passes this law our response will be to block our content from the EU. Perhaps one response to this outrageous, stupid, fascist, corporatist grab for power should be for websites around the world to take a stand and declare that they will also block their content from the EU.European lawmakers are drafting new copyright rules that will require online platforms to automatically monitor and filter all user-uploaded content. Their intention is to stop copyright infringement, but the reality will go so far beyond that it will risk breaking the internet.
This means that nearly every platform -- from Instagram to YouTube to SoundCloud to Flickr -- will have to review every single uploaded file for copyright infringements before it is allowed to go online. Such a system would be so expensive that only huge companies would be able to join the market, and it would surely flag tons of perfectly harmless and non-infringing content.The draft law would also allow press publishers to demand fees for linking to headlines and snippets. This will kill news linking on the web. How do we know? It already failed in Spain and Germany. The new "link tax" would drastically disrupt the free flow of information online.
These copyright proposals will break the internet as we know it.
It doesn't have to be this way. Here's what you can do.
On July 5, all 751 Members of the European Parliament will vote on whether to fast-track the proposal, or to reopen the discussions so improvements can be made. The proposal isn't a sure thing -- it barely made it out of committee.
You can help stop it.
If you're an EU citizen, or if you live and work in the EU, go to saveyourinternet.eu and tell your MEPs to stop the proposal and reopen the debate.
If you're not in the EU, help us spread the word! The one thing we know about bad internet legislation is that it gets copied and exported world-wide. We have to stop it wherever it shows up, before it become the law where you live, too.
Europe needs reasonable and balanced copyright rules that foster an open internet, freedom of expression, and the rights of users and the public in the digital environment.
It's not too late. With your help, we can turn this around. Take Action
And since this is a huge threat to commerce, potentially having an effect on billions if not trillions of dollars (or Euros) worth of business, this might be considered a declaration of war. After all, physical blockades are considered such.
So share this with people you know in the EU and make sure they make it known that the five idiot, corporate shills who have authorized this in committee should be drummed out of any role of responsibility on the planet.
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