tag:webdev.shared.arty.name,2011:index.atomЗаписи о веб-разработке, рекомендованные Артемием ТрегубенкоАртемий Трегубенкоme@arty.namehttps://arty.name2018-06-11T19:56:54Zhttps://juliareda.eu/2018/06/saveyourinternet/2018-06-11T19:56:54Z2018-06-11T19:56:54ZJulia RedaHow you can #SaveYourInternet from Article 13 and the “Link Tax” in the next 14 days
<p><strong>With two weeks to go until the crucial vote</strong> in the European Parliament, more and more people are becoming aware of the looming plans for “<a href="https://juliareda.eu/eu-copyright-reform/censorship-machines/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">censorship machines</a>” and a “<a href="https://juliareda.eu/eu-copyright-reform/extra-copyright-for-news-sites/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">link tax</a>” in the EU. (<a href="https://juliareda.eu/eu-copyright-reform/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Catch up on these these plans here.</a>) People are realising:</p>
<blockquote class="big"><p>Our freedom to upload media and share links, and thus to express ourselves online, is under threat.<a class="tweetthis" href="https://juliareda.eu/en/feed/"><i class="fa fa-twitter"></i>Tweet this!</a></p></blockquote>
<h2>Every vote counts</h2>
<p>It currently looks like there is a <strong>razor-thin majority in favor of Article 13.</strong> The negotiators for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_People%27s_Party_group" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><acronym class="c2c-text-hover" title="European People’s Party (Conservatives)">EPP</acronym></a> (conservatives), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_of_Liberals_and_Democrats_for_Europe_group" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><acronym class="c2c-text-hover" title="Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (Liberals)">ALDE</acronym></a> (liberals), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Conservatives_and_Reformists" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><acronym class="c2c-text-hover" title="European Conservatives and Reformers (Eurosceptic Conservatives)">ECR</acronym></a> (eurosceptic conservatives) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe_of_Nations_and_Freedom" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><acronym class="c2c-text-hover" title="Europe of Nations and Freedom (Extreme Right)">ENF</acronym></a> (anti-EU far right) in the Legal Affairs Committee recently expressed their support for the latest version of Article 13.</p>
<p>Together, these groups have 13 votes on the Legal Affairs Committee –<strong> one more than the opposition:</strong></p>
<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_9499"><img alt="" class="wp-image-9499 size-full" src="https://juliareda.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/art13juri.png" height="1304"><span class="wp-caption-text">Share this image! Licence: Public domain</span></figure>
<p><strong>It will come down to every single vote.</strong> Our mission until June 20: Make it clear to at least one MEP who’s currently undecided or in favour that their constituents want them to reject these plans. The NGO EDRi has made a <a href="https://edri.org/files/Copyright_JURI_MEPs_undecided.pdf." rel="noopener" target="_blank">list of key swing votes</a>.</p>
<div class="ace-line" id="magicdomid494"><span class="author-a-xyz87z4z86zmnyz81zz69zz82zodz80zz80zz122z"><strong>We can do this! And </strong><strong>your contribution could make the crucial difference.</strong> Every single call, every share and every campaign idea could be the one that saves our freedoms online from being restricted.</span></div>
<h2>What are they thinking?</h2>
<p>To convince these MEPs, we need to understand what we’re up against.</p>
<p><strong>Big corporate lobbies</strong> are demanding these laws, hoping to make additional profits and gain more control over the web, after missing out on much of the digital transformation. Publicly, they insist these laws are necessary to protect European cultural industries from exploitation by foreign internet platforms. The link tax is even supposed to single-handedly “save journalism”.</p>
<p>That narrative gets some politicians’ attention, because these are laudable goals and the underlying problems are real: Funding for quality journalism is indeed under pressure. Google and Facebook do have a worrying amount of power and aren’t contributing enough to the European economy.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://juliareda.eu/eu-copyright-reform/#criticism" rel="noopener" target="_blank">independent experts agree</a>: Copyright law isn’t the source of these problems, and <strong>these plans won’t fix them.</strong> In fact, they may well backfire – and they are certain to <strong>cause collateral damage to freedom of expression and harm independent creators, small publishers and startups.</strong> <a class="tweetthis" href="https://juliareda.eu/en/feed/"><i class="fa fa-twitter"></i>Tweet this!</a>
</p><p>So let your MEP know: You understand the problems they’re trying to fix, but this law is not an appropriate and proportionate solution. It’s not in the public interest.</p>
<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_9500"><img alt="" class="wp-image-9500 size-full" src="https://juliareda.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/art13graffiti.jpg" height="985"><span class="wp-caption-text">Share this image! Licence: Public domain</span></figure>
<h2>Intense pressure</h2>
<p>What makes this fight particularly hard: The other side is playing dirty, according to multiple reports.</p>
<p>A year and a half ago, the Commissioner who proposed this law came right out and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxz9X_6Zvqc" rel="noopener" target="_blank">urged publishers to <strong>convince their journalists to stop criticising it</strong></a> (turn on subtitles for an English translation).</p>
<p>In an article titled <em>“Are German publishers <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_Springer_SE" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Axel Springer</a> using [German governing party] CDU to<strong> strong-arm Brussels?</strong>”,</em> <a href="https://www.neweurope.eu/article/german-publishers-axel-springer-using-cdu-strong-arm-brussels/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">an EU insider reported:</a> <em>“Rumours are abound in Brussels of <strong>the lengths they</strong>‘<strong>re willing to go to</strong>” </em>to push this law through.</p>
<p><em>“I know that several members of our committee have come under <strong>huge pressure</strong> to vote in favour of this particular proposal. The German CDU […] has been reportedly pressuring them […] there have been <strong>reports of threats</strong> of members not being allocated reports and parliamentary positions if, basically, they don’t do as they are told”</em>, an MEP revealed under the cover of anonymity in another article – before it was <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180531/00285739946/eu-parliament-members-play-hardball-terrible-copyright-policies-article-highlighting-sketchy-tactics-magically-disappears.shtml" rel="noopener" target="_blank">taken offline and edited</a> to replace that quote with an official statement by the publishers’ lobby.</p>
<p><em>“<strong>Independent evidence is ignored</strong> in response to heavy lobbying”</em>, experts from leading research centres across Europe <a href="https://www.create.ac.uk//wp-content/uploads/2018/04/OpenLetter_EU_Copyright_Research_Centres_26_04_2018.pdf" rel="noopener" target="_blank">complained in an open letter</a>. In the Parliament, academic evidence <a href="https://juliareda.eu/2017/12/jrc-paper-copyright/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">was held back</a> or <a href="https://juliareda.eu/2017/12/extra-news-copyright-confusion/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">“balanced out” with specifically-ordered cheerleading</a>, as I’ve documented in this blog.</p>
<p><em>“The CDU and Axel Springer will try their best, and needless to say the other side will be under-represented by comparison”</em>, <a href="https://www.neweurope.eu/article/german-publishers-axel-springer-using-cdu-strong-arm-brussels/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">NewEurope</a> concluded. <strong>It’s up to all of us to balance out that situation.</strong> Will you do your part? <a class="tweetthis" href="https://juliareda.eu/en/feed/"><i class="fa fa-twitter"></i>Tweet this!</a>
</p><h2>Call your MEP now</h2>
<p>Please use any one of the following free tools to <strong>call your MEP right now</strong>. I know calling politicians doesn’t come natural to most people, but it’s their job to represent you, and it’s more effective than you think! <a href="https://edri.org/stop-the-censorshipmachine-suggested-talking-points/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Here’s a guide to help you with what to say.</a></p>
<ol class="countdown">
<li><a href="https://saveyourinternet.eu" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Save Your Internet</strong></a> by the Copyright4Creativity alliance</li>
<li><a href="https://changecopyright.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Change Copyright</strong></a> by Mozilla, the makers of Firefox</li>
<li><a href="https://act.openmedia.org/savethelink-call" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Save The Link</strong></a> by the NGO OpenMedia</li>
</ol>
<p>Once you’ve done that, <strong>tell your friends</strong> on social media. Be proud that you’ve taken action, and inspire others to follow your example.</p>
<h2>One final note</h2>
<p>Are you frustrated you have to constantly fight to defend your digital rights? You and me both.</p>
<p>But it’s important to me to underscore that the solution to bad legal proposals and unbalanced lobbying is not to curse or even advocate leaving the EU. (In fact, it’s Eurosceptic and right-wing parties that are responsible for giving these proposals majority support in the Committee! Even the <acronym class="c2c-text-hover" title="Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (Eurosceptic Populists)">EFDD</acronym> group – the Italian M5S and UKIP – whose lead negotiator is fighting the proposals, is internally divided. Don’t let Eurosceptic politicians get away with voting in favour of breaking the Internet and then blaming the EU for it later!)</p>
<p>These problems exist at the national level as well, and regulating the internet in 28 different ways on one continent is utterly unworkable. <strong>The way forward is to participate fully in the EU political process</strong>: Pay more attention to EU lawmaking in its early stages, demand reporting on it from your local media, support European civil society organisations fighting for your rights (such as <a href="https://edri.org/donate/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">EDRi</a>, <a href="https://www.liberties.eu/en/donate" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Liberties.eu</a>, <a href="https://www.access-info.org/donations" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Access Info</a> or <a href="https://corporateeurope.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=16" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Corporate Europe Observatory</a>) and strengthen progressive parties at the ballot box.</p>
<p>Then we’ll be able to fight for positive change, and not just defend against the worst proposals. Until we get there: Grit your teeth and pick up the phone! The internet is worth it.</p>