70+ Internet Luminaries Ring the Alarm on EU Copyright Filtering Proposal

ronjor · Jun 13, 2018

By Danny O'Brien and Jeremy Malcolm June 12, 2018

Vint Cerf, Tim Berners-Lee, and Dozens of Other Computing Experts Oppose Article 13

As Europe's latest copyright proposal heads to a critical vote on June 20-21, more than 70 Internet and computing luminaries have spoken out against a dangerous provision, Article 13, that would require Internet platforms to automatically filter uploaded content. The group, which includes Internet pioneer Vint Cerf, the inventor of the World Wide Web Tim Berners-Lee, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, co-founder of the Mozilla Project Mitchell Baker, Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle, cryptography expert Bruce Schneier, and net neutrality expert Tim Wu, wrote in a joint letter that was released today:
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guest · Jun 18, 2018

Politicians, about to vote in favor of mandatory upload filtering in Europe, get channel deleted by YouTube’s upload filtering
June 17, 2018
https://www.privateinternetaccess.c...channel-deleted-by-youtubes-upload-filtering/

French politicians of the former Front National are furious: their entire YouTube channel was just taken down by automatic filters at YouTube for alleged copyright violations. Perhaps this will cause them to reconsider next week’s vote, which they have announced they will support: the bill that will make exactly this “arbitrary, political, and unilateral” upload filtering mandatory all across Europe.

The broadcast named TVLibertés is gone, described by YouTube as “YouTube has blocked the broadcast of the newscast of Thursday, June 14 for copyright infringement.”

It’s hard to illustrate clearer that Europe’s politicians have absolutely no idea about the monster they’re voting on next week.
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mirimir · Jun 18, 2018

Wow, that is just so damn funny

deBoetie · Jun 19, 2018

I had a YT video blocked automatically because of music copyright. Thing was, I had actually paid for a royalty-free licence to the media.

I did appeal it and got it mostly unblocked, but it illustrates how unfair and loaded the system is towards the copyright giants. Fair use isn't going to get a look in either.

It's a form of rent-seeking and control though, which is why this measure is going through, there's little concern about iatrogenics because they don't bear the costs.

guest · Jun 20, 2018

'Disastrous' copyright bill vote approved
A committee of MEPs has voted to accept major changes to European copyright law, which experts say could change the nature of the internet.
June 20, 2018
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44546620

They voted to approve the controversial Article 13, which critics warn could put an end to memes, remixes and other user-generated content.

Article 11, requiring online platforms to pay publishers a fee if they link to their news content, was also approved.
'Censorship'
Article 13 puts more onus on websites to enforce copyright and could mean that every online platform that allows users to post text, sounds, code or images will need some form of content-recognition system to review all material that users upload.

Open Rights executive director Jim Killock told the BBC: "Article 13 must go. The EU parliament will have another chance to remove this dreadful law.
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guest · Jun 21, 2018

GitHub: Changes to EU copyright law could derail open source distribution
A proposed European law would mandate that content providers utilize some kind of content filter to make sure rights holders get their royalties.
But for a public open source code repository, such a contraption could be a nuisance, or it could be catastrophic.
June 21, 2018
https://www.zdnet.com/article/githu...ht-law-could-derail-open-source-distribution/

Could the imposition of content filters, mandated by the European Union for use by all Internet content distributors, wreck the distribution systems on which the entire open source ecosystem now depends?

"Automated upload filtering of code would require entirely new technology," stated GitHub Policy Director Mike Linksvayer, in a note to ZDNet Wednesday, "and would result in either vast numbers of false positives -- causing software to become much more fragile, literally breaking builds -- or vast numbers of false negatives -- because most software, including proprietary software, includes some open source components."

"Upload filters are especially concerning for software developers," wrote GitHub Policy Liaison Abby Vollmer, in a company blog post last March, "given that software developers create copyrightable works -- their code -- and those who choose an open source license want to allow that code to be shared."

"It is both feasible and imperative to exclude software development platforms from the Directive," continued Linksvayer. "Upload filters for software would be disastrous for software development, and thus the future of the European economy."
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guest · Aug 28, 2018

How The EU May Be About To Kill The Public Domain: Copyright Filters Takedown Beethoven
August 28, 2018
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/2...in-copyright-filters-takedown-beethoven.shtml

Regarding the mandatory filters, German music professor Ulrich Kaiser, has written about a a very disturbing experiment he ran on YouTube, in which he kept having public domain music he had uploaded for his students get taken down by ContentID copyright claims.

Google has spent more resources and money on ContentID than on any other filter. It's been tested much more thoroughly than just about any other filter out there. And music is one of the easiest cases to match. And yet, it still got it all wrong. And it caused significant collateral damage: [...]
Now expand this out to other kinds of content, which aren't as easy to match. Or companies who don't have $60 million to spend on filters. Or where companies don't have the time to review every disputed takedown.

And here's the thing: mandatory filters are totally unnecessary. Most large platforms already have invested in ContentID-like systems. It's the smaller sites and the upstarts who can't afford such a thing. So all Article 13 will really do is lock in YouTube/Google as the dominant player.
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mirimir · Aug 28, 2018

Look, YouTube is just broken.

Use something else.

Minimalist · Jan 21, 2019

EU Copyright Reform Delayed After Meeting Cancellation

A controversial European Union bill regarding the reform of copyright laws has hit a delay in the face of fierce opposition from tech firms, meme creators, and privacy campaigners.

A key meeting between European lawmakers, representatives from EU countries and Commission officials, was called off late last week after those attending failed to resolve their differences on the matter.
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https://www.silicon.co.uk/e-marketing/socialmedia/eu-copyright-reform-meeting-240685

mirimir · Jan 21, 2019

Ummm, "meme creators". lol

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