The Threat of 'Link Tax' is getting closer..

[swarfendor437 14]

From my Inbox:

 

"MEP Axel Voss is hell-bent on passing an EU link tax that would fundamentally change the Internet as we know it -- all to satisfy his big corporate lobbyist friends.

 

And now Voss is lashing out at OpenMedia on Twitter with Donald Trump-style attacks, accusing those who oppose the link tax of spreading “fake news.”1

 

Voss is attacking OpenMedia because we’ve helped spark a massive grassroots backlash -- and now he’s scared we just might stop him.

 

We won’t let Axel Voss bully us. But MEPs will be voting on the link tax within weeks, so we need to turn up the pressure NOW.

DONATE TO HELP STOP THE LINK TAX

 

Hyperlinks are fundamental to the ecosystem of the Internet. We share articles or interesting information with friends and family. We link to more in-depth information in blog posts. We add links as evidence for academic and professional work.

 

But if giant publishers and politicians captured by corporate interests like Axel Voss get their way, our ability to use links could be crushed -- killing the Internet as we know it.

 

A broad coalition of independent publishers, artists, and free-speech advocates are leading the fight to stop the link tax. But it’s being pushed hard by lobbyists for giant publishers, who are angry that the Internet has broken open their monopoly on the publication and distribution of content.

 

Axel Voss is the leader of the effort to pass the link tax, and now he’s pouncing on OpenMedia for one reason: We’re fighting back for free speech and the open Internet. And with the vote on the link tax expected any day, he wants to bully us into silence.

 

Here’s what your donation will help us continue to do as the big vote approaches:

 

Mobilise hundreds of phone calls to MEPs through our state-of-the-art call tool, and getting people to phone Voss and other MEPs.

Organise an open letter to Voss signed by 59 organisations opposed to the link tax.

Use our EU-wide membership to spread the word about how toxic this idea really is and make sure the MEPs hear us loud and clear.

 

Will you chip in to help stand up to Axel Voss and his lobbyist friends and stop the link tax?

DONATE TO HELP STOP THE LINK TAX

 

Thanks for all that you do,

 

Dave, and the whole team at OpenMedia

 

Footnotes:

[1] Tweet by Axel Voss: Twitter

OpenMedia

 

 

We work to safeguard the possibilities of the open Internet, and toward informed and participatory digital policy.

This work depends on the support of people like you. Donate.

You can follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook."

Edited May 16, 2018 by swarfendor43

[swarfendor437 14]

Update:

 

"Next week the European Union’s JURI committee will decide the fate of the Internet in the EU. If the lobbyists for the big publishers have their way, every website will be forced to pay a tax for every link to news content on the web. Added to that, they want to force sites to install "censorship machines" to filter and block uploaded content1.

This will hamper or outright break every site and service based in the EU, which means that the impact will be seen by Internet users all over the world.

 

That’s why the OpenMedia community, along with our partners and other organisations across Europe2, are making one last urgent push to Save the Link and stop censorship machines.

 

TWEET AT THE 9 MEPs

Just 9 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will decide3, so we’re tweeting them to tell them the choice is clear. Today, June 12 is the day of action across Europe to #SaveYourInternet.

 

If these laws pass, it will be the end of smaller Internet operators in Europe. The automated content filtering technology the lawmakers are demanding will be hideously expensive, and will not be nearly as accurate as they claim.

 

The link tax is an unprecedented assault on the free and open web, it goes to the heart of what makes the Internet so powerful — the free sharing of information.

 

Even if you’re not directly represented by one of these 9 MEPs, they are deciding on a law that will affect all of us, in Europe and around the world.

 

SEND A MESSAGE TO

THESE 9 MEPs NOW

It doesn’t matter if you’re from a country represented by one of the 9 MEPs or not, we all need to stand together to put a stop to this dangerous and destructive proposal. Send a message to an MEP today and tell them to #SaveYourInternet.

 

After years of delays and debate, we’re at the critical point now. We can’t let up. Too much depends on this. Let’s take over the Internet today and make it a day the deciding MEPs can never forget.

 

Yours for the open web,

 

Dave, for the team at OpenMedia

 

P.S A tweet will take just a minute or two of your time, but will reach the people making this crucial decision. Send a tweet today. If you don’t use Twitter, you can email the MEPs here too.

 

Footnotes

1. Article 13 could "destroy the internet as we know it": What is it, why is it controversial and what will it mean for memes? alphr

2. Save Your Internet. #SaveYourInternet

3. Copyright JURI MEPs undecided. EDRi"

[swarfendor437 14]

From my inbox:

 

 

We have 24 hours, J.

 

Tomorrow (today 20.6.2018 ) the European Union’s JURI committee will vote to decide if the Internet in the EU will remain open and free. It’s that simple.

 

We win, and the Internet will continue to work as it should, people can go on creating and sharing online as we’ve all been able to do for over 20 years. We lose, and the link tax and censorship machines become law, and the Internet as we know it today will be gone1.

 

This is our last chance to make a difference. Send a message to the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) that will decide2 the vote tomorrow and tell them to #SaveYourInternet.

 

SEND A MESSAGE TO MEPs BEFORE THE VOTE

David Kaye, the UN's Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, wrote a report that called this proposal a disaster for free speech that would violate the UN’s own Declaration on Human Rights3.

 

The Internet has never been under such a fundamental threat as it is with this proposal. It is a direct attack on what makes the Internet so powerful – the free sharing of information.

 

Send one last message to the MEPs that will decide the vote tomorrow. Tell them to #SaveYourInternet.

 

We’ll know by the end of the day tomorrow if we’ve won or lost. We don’t want to look back and ask if we could have done more. One last big effort could see this through.

 

SEND AN URGENT MESSAGE TO MEPs

Thanks for getting us this far.

 

Yours for the open web,

 

Dave, for the team at OpenMedia

 

P.S. This is the last stage in this battle, but we know there’ll be more to come. Please chip in to OpenMedia to help us keep up the fight to protect the open Internet.

 

Footnotes

1 Article 13 could "destroy the internet as we know it": What is it, why is it controversial and what will it mean for memes? alphr

2 Copyright JURI MEPs undecided. EDRi

3 UN Free Speech Expert: EU's Copyright Directive Would Be An Attack On Free Speech, Violate Human Rights. Techdirt

 

OpenMedia

We work to safeguard the possibilities of the open Internet, and toward informed and participatory digital policy.

This work depends on the support of people like you. Donate.

 

Tweet or email the 9 MEPs of your objection to the link tax on this page:

 

https://savethelink.org/tweet-your-mep-saveyourinternet?src=162721

 

For information on the link tax:

 

https://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1541381

Edited June 20, 2018 by swarfendor43

[Guest]

Why don't you just start automatically start creating threads from your Inbox because it seems to be you think everything you read everyone needs to read too?

 

I get these emails too but don't feel the need to start threads about every one.

[swarfendor437 14]

Why don't you just start automatically start creating threads from your Inbox because it seems to be you think everything you read everyone needs to read too?

 

I get these emails too but don't feel the need to start threads about every one.

 

I do it to put it into context. So you are happy that the internet in Europe is about to be broken?

[alchresearch 213]

Considering nobody else has bothered to post on this thread in the months its been going tells you that nobody cares.

[acmmjw 10]

most don't know what this means

[whiteowl 54]

If you want the English version...

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44546620

[mickey finn 12]

Paranoia alert

[melthebell 862]

If its the EU doing this, and the worldwide web is......erm worldwide, does it only affect users in the EU?

[whiteowl 54]

If its the EU doing this, and the worldwide web is......erm worldwide, does it only affect users in the EU?

 

Possibly - I see VPN sales rocketing if that's the case. I can access the Internet from pretty much anywhere on the planet with mine.

[Obelix 11]

Paranoia alert

 

It's only paranoia when HAARP comes to earthquake you because of link taxing or summat....