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The Man Behind the EU's Copyright Law is 'Surprised' By What's in the Proposal (qz.com)
Hours after the European Union Parliament voted to approve new controversial copyright laws that will transform how people in Europe and beyond use and profit from the internet, the man behind the legislation, Axel Voss, says he is unaware of what exactly he voted for. From a report: Emanuel Karlsten, a reporter for Sweden's Breakit news site, spoke with Voss, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and the EU's copyright rapporteur, after the vote. Karlsten asked about a last-minute amendment that will bar the filming of sports events. The MEP replied in a recorded conversation, "This was kind of mistake I think by the JURI committee. Someone amended this. No one had been aware of this." European Parliament press officer John Schranz at that point broke in to explain that he was aware of the provision in question, calling it "amendment 76." Schranz said that the amendment doesn't bar individuals from filming sporting events. Rather, "the main target" is online betting companies enticing viewers to their sites with video that they have no right to film. He objected to the fact that the "Greens and others" interpret the provision as having a much wider application.
But the MEP Voss admitted, "I didn't know that this was in the proposal so far, so of course I have to deal with it now. I do not consider that the commission and council will have this inside the proposal." Voss added that "because of the time pressure" and general focus on other, more notable aspects of the law, it's possible that the measure was insufficiently scrutinized.
But the MEP Voss admitted, "I didn't know that this was in the proposal so far, so of course I have to deal with it now. I do not consider that the commission and council will have this inside the proposal." Voss added that "because of the time pressure" and general focus on other, more notable aspects of the law, it's possible that the measure was insufficiently scrutinized.
So what he's actually saying is that it's fine to trade speed of a meeting for total destruction of the free Internet.
Thank you for once again showing the world what a pile of steaming bovine excrement the EU really is.
To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
I voted âremainâ(TM) in the Brexit referendum. I emailed MEPs about this proposal, and how harmful it could be. The only reply I received was from Farageâ(TM)s office: they said they would vote against. Nobody else apparently cared.
Perhaps I need to re-think my position.
"total destruction of the free Internet."
That's simply not true. Stop lying.
I don't respond to AC's.
Is he fucking serious?
This is a world class governing body passing laws that affect people literally all over the globe... and their excuse was "we didn't have time to sufficiently scrutinize these before voting for them."?
This is... fucking insane to be light about it.
I tend to rant.
Politicians probably aren't spending most of their reading time on websites, but rather going through thick reports, proposals, notes from committee meetings on a subject, etc. Reading material of which there is a *LOT*. In that situation it's easy to overlook some important detail(s), or misunderstand the implications of some of what's on the table.
That said, it's a poor excuse imho. If you don't understand what you're voting for, then vote against, abstain, or decide with your colleagues you need more time to go through the material. You're stuck with it for a couple of weeks or months, but if it results in a bad law, then the population may be stuck with it for many years. So do your homework!
People who have a lot of power, people who own newspapers, politicians who rely on those people and other people at that level, are quite concerned about the Internet. The Internet is designed to facilitate the free flow of information. That means "curated" information, packaged with approved, "correct" messages (designed to make people more pliant and easier to govern) is harder to project onto the masses.
Expect this sort of thing to continue. "Mistakes" that continuously occur in favor of the "curators" of correct thought are not mistakes. This is a constant, continuous push, and will never end until the Internet is fully curated as well.