The EU has just voted to censor the internet and imposes web article link taxes for any references to EU published content.
EFF, EPIC, and freedom aligned groups and politicians made appeals right up to today's vote. The EU has broken the internet and free speech.
If this stands, expect Drudge, FR and other conservative news sites to severely limit content.
Jim and John, please stay up on related developments and how we can help you and FR. Thanks+
Time to move to the dark web.
And when AFP steals breaking news photos from Twitter and charges for them???
Google gonna go broke paying for all of those links!
We need to take control of the internet back and turn access to it off for the Third World EU.
Btt.
If it weren’t for the fact that some Brit links are better at covering the U.S. than our MSM, I’d hardly care.
Otherwise, my attitude is, “screw ‘em”, let them try to “tax” material originating outside the EU, or somehow prove it.
Let the EU go dark.
This is Breaking / Frontpage news that affects this site and paying members. Please consider featuring this as such for FR member awareness and action.
If this stands, FR will be severely hampered / closed down.
Obama let the Internet go, and the first thing the EU did was try to slap a tax on content, a direct attempt to control access to information. One more time when the obvious comes true.
The “Anti-Drudge Rule”
Article 13 has been widely touted as marking the death of memes - although this needn’t actually come to pass. Member states have the right to establish exceptions in the case of caricature, parody or pastiche; and in any case rights holders will be required to justify any decision to refuse permission to access their works.
However, it could undoubtedly make it a lot easier for copyright holders to frustrate users wishing to link to their material with the aim, perhaps, of criticizing them. And even when they don’t wish to block access to their work, it could still happen anyway. The proposed system has a lot in common with YouTube’s ContentID system - not known for its accuracy, with perfectly legitimate content frequently flagged.
It might also entrench the already monopolistic status of the large platforms such as Facebook and Google, with startups highly unlikely to be able to find the funds for a filtering system. And it could even, suggests blogger Cory Doctorow, allow trolls to use bots to file copyrights to content they don’t actually own, shutting down political discussion.
In an emailed statement following the ruling, Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, points out that there is still time to stop Article 13, which must be approved by the European Parliament in a plenary vote early next month.
“The EU Parliament’s duty is to defend citizens from unfair and unjust laws. MEPs must reject this law, which would create a Robo-copyright regime intended to zap any image, text, meme or video that appears to include copyright material, even when it is entirely legal material,” he says.
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If I post a UK Dailymail article on FR, the EU will get the Fresno swat team out to take down FR? I don't think so.
They can have my hyperlinks... when they pry them from my cold dead keyboard.
There is not much I can do about any of this.
“It’s not that I’m lazy. I just don’t care”
It is however something Trump needs to deal with.
Boycott EU-based links.
Google images changed it policy months ago. Notice how you now have to “click to open image in new tab”. It’s because of Getty & the like.