
Leaked: EU governments want to give record labels control over what we can post - g4k
https://juliareda.eu/2017/10/copyright-bullies/
======
skrebbel
Meta-comment: this is a fantastic article.

I find that nearly all writings in the pro-internet-freedom camp are overly
detailed, technical and long. They take great care to be precisely accurate,
come up with unmarketable terms like "net neutrality", and as a result they
really just end up preaching to the choir.

Then this one! It's rather short, it's to the point, it uses imagery that my
dad can understand ("censorship machine" instead of "content recognition
algorithms"). I hope all the others fighting the good fight take notice.
Really impressed with Reda here.

I can actually share this with people!

~~~
tomglynch
Totally agree. Net neutrality is the most unclear, incomprehensible term for
describing internet freedom.

And I think the main reason net neutrality is having such a tough time gaining
support of the people is most people assume net neutrality is a negative thing
and want to get rid of it.

I must say, brilliant marketing tactics by whoever coined the term (assuming
they are from a company trying to quash net neutrality).

~~~
ldd
A classic, but an old essay on the topic:

George Orwell, Politics and the English Language[1]

[1][http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit...](http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit/)

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kuschku
The important bit (and also w.r.t. who to blame):

> Documents[1] leaked today by Statewatch expose: _The governments of France,
> Spain and Portugal are pushing to redesign the web away from openness and
> towards the tight control_ of cable TV, where a few big companies get to say
> what goes on the air.
    
    
        ________________________
    

[1] [http://statewatch.org/news/2017/oct/eu-copyright-fr-pt-
es.ht...](http://statewatch.org/news/2017/oct/eu-copyright-fr-pt-es.htm)

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throw2016
Democracy is really meaningless, one vote every 4-5 years and in the interim
corporate interests are lobbying daily to get laws passed. It just becomes a
fig leaf of legitimacy for crony capitalism and we must recognize we are neck
deep in it.

~~~
manachar
Democracy is supposed to be more involved then showing up every 4-5 years.

For most Western democracies the reason governments have been increasingly
aligned with corporate interests is those have been the interests actually
doing the hard work of democracy. They gather like minded people together,
lobby, and keep sustained pressure on elected officials. They constantly work
at a democracy whereas most people seem to think politics is an every 4 year
divisive inconvenience that's best not discussed.

In other words, democracy is captured by corporate interests precisely because
they lobby daily whereas most people can barely be counted on to show up to
vote.

~~~
Joe-Z
But normal people also don't have huge amounts of money and time to spend on
sending someone to the parliament to speak for their interests. What they have
is parties they can vote for, which are then supposed to make policies as
promised to their voters. What happens though is that lobbyists step in and
buy them off.

So please don't try to sell lobbyists as some pillar of democracy.

~~~
vertex-four
The people have political organisations of our own, you realise - I donate to
a few in my country that regularly have people talking to our elected
representatives and the people in charge of creating Government policy.

It doesn't actually cost a lot of money to lobby the Government when enough
people are actually interested in a problem. The problem is broadly apathy.

~~~
gtvwill
Yeah but your a small percentage of the population to actually have the
disposable income to donate to a cause you feel is worthy. I'd love to donate
money to plenty of causes, but then I wouldn't be able to eat or pay rent. So
I'm at the perils of lobbyists as I can't afford to make my voice heard. Heaps
democratic isn't it.

~~~
confounded
I’m not sure if the percentage is as small as you think. Trade unions for
example are a traditional working class way of clubbing together resources to
do some lobbying. Making even small contributions is meaningful, and you have
time and enthusiasm to offer, that’s worth a lot too.

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pantalaimon
I'm glad the Pirate Party is still in the EU parliament, doing important work
like this.

~~~
godzillabrennus
We need a pirate party in the United States.

~~~
slim
There are pirate parties in a handful of states. Where do you live?

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QAPereo
Unless Germany is on board, I can’t see this happening. (Thank god for minute
favors)

~~~
skrebbel
France, Spain and Portugal can implement these laws without the rest of the
EU. That's a big enough market to make many companies invest in such a
"censorship machine". After that, there is precedent.

~~~
QAPereo
Spain and Portugal will do whatever Germany says, France... is France so who
knows? I don’t see how this can be enforced locally though.

~~~
confounded
France already has very draconian laws with regards to file sharing. I think
their politicians would go for it.

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rhn_mk1
Those attempts will never cease, will they?

~~~
leggomylibro
"Never Cease" is copyrighted by Endless Flight Media. In order to minimize
inconvenience and injury, please redact your comment prior to the arrival of
authorities.

\- Posted under General Indemnification Clause EU3215

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acd
I express strong dislike of industries lobbying for laws which are non
democratic.

Does the people of EU want this law?

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nkkollaw
Thank God for Tor... That's our safety net if they eventually succeed in
destroying the internet.

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idclip
This stuff is heading towards torches and pitchforks.

~~~
squarefoot
I don't think so. The "censorship machine" will first be publicly motivated by
the necessity to limit media piracy, then if necessary they will use the usual
child porn consensus device to shift public opinion towards its acceptance,
since nobody would dare to oppose it. Finally, once it is working, they'll use
it to detect and quash dissent much before it reaches the torches and
pitchforks level.

~~~
idclip
Lets hope were both wrong

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jstanley
This is just another foot on the accelerator driving everything towards
decentralisation and true censorship-resistance.

~~~
QAPereo
People like the minority represented by HN? Sure. The billions who use social
media every day? Not so much.

~~~
jstanley
Don't forget it was the people like the minority represented by HN who built
substantially all of the internet infrastructure.

