The European Union Feverishly Hammers Another Nail In Freedom's Coffin:
Honestly, Why Did America Bother With Two World Wars?

This is sort of a Chesterton's Fence, only in reverse. We need to stand astride the internet, and in loud voice say, "Why do we need this regulation?"
EU's Copyright Directive Passes Despite Widespread Protests -- But It's Not Law Yet

One of the most controversial aspects of the EU directive is Article 13 (Article 17 in the proposed law’s latest incarnation), which puts more of a responsibility on platforms to monitor user uploads. The potential for a chilling of free speech is palpable as any kind of filter created for this purpose would likely be imperfect and restrict content that should be allowed under both copyright and freedom of speech laws -- and potentially still let through actual infringing content anyway.

Another hotly debated section is Article 11, commonly called the "link tax," which would allow publishers, such as Forbes, to charge platforms, such as Google News, to display brief blurbs of their stories -- leading to cries that Google News would be no more as it would simply be cost-prohibitive. And that says nothing of smaller companies that offer a similar snippet service and would almost certainly be put under.

posted by CBD at 02:15 PM

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