While several factors have driven the decline in newspaper revenues and in the number of legacy newspapers, news aggregation has an opposite effect
The risks that may be created by news aggregation platforms for media plurality in news consumption cannot be addressed through copyright.
These quotes are not from the Pirate in the European Parliament […]
more ›Just in time for the end of the year, the European Commission announced the start of a first bug bounty within the Free and Open Source Software Audit (FOSSA) project. You can now submit bugs you find in VLC Media Player on HackerOne, where bounties ranging from $100 for low-severity bugs and up to $2,000 […]
more ›For months now I’ve been raising the alarm about the plan to limit the freedom to link that has been slowly but surely making its way through the EU legislative process.
The European Commission and the publishing lobby have accused those of us fighting to save the link of exaggerating the danger that the planned extra copyright […]
more ›Is it a good idea to introduce an extra copyright for news sites in the EU, which would make sharing news articles with little snippets of their content illegal, unless licensed? The Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament commissioned an independent academic study to find out.
The results came back crystal clear. But if […]
more ›Good news in the latest chapter of the fight over whether the EU should mandate the installation of “censorship machines” on internet platforms as part of the upcoming copyright reform:
The Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament today threw its weight behind a more sensible way forward than the one demanded by media conglomerates and proposed […]
more ›Today, the European Parliament passed the Consumer Protection Cooperation regulation. Unfortunately, it contains an overreaching general website blocking provision. Additionally, consumer protection improvements were watered down or removed completely in last-minute trilogue negotiations with the Council.
According to the new rules, national consumer protection authorities can order any unspecified third party to block access to websites without requiring judicial […]
more ›The Internet is our greatest and most egalitarian public sphere: Never before was it possible for everyone to publish their creative works worldwide, at no cost, without seeking anyone’s approval. But some want to change that.
The open and participatory internet was made possible by laws that protect internet providers and online platforms from liability: […]
more ›A new study conducted upon request of the European Parliament finds that the planned extra copyright for news sites is a terrible idea. But MEPs may not learn about it until after they have voted on the controversial proposal.
The study concludes:
“There are real concerns surrounding the rather uncertain effects of the right. […] We [advise] that the press publishers’ […]
more ›Today, the European Commission announced its silver-bullet solution to illegal content online: Automated upload filters!
It has already been pushing filters to try to prevent copyright infringement – in its communication on ‘tackling illegal content online’, it is going ever further.
The Commission now officially “strongly encourages online platforms to […] step up investment in, and use of, […]
more ›Does copyright infringement negatively affect legal sales? This is a fundamental question with profound implications on the way copyright and copyright enforcement policy should work.
In January 2014, the European Commission awarded the Dutch company Ecorys a contract worth €360.000 to conduct a study on the question.
The 300-page study was delivered to the Commission […]
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