The European Parliament was once again surprised and decided to adopt the controversial changes to the copyright law. The new regulation was unofficially called ACTA 2. Since the ideas of this idea appeared on the web, the biggest platforms have been expressing their opposition. It is also loud on social media.
Controversial changes in copyright law are the biggest giants against ...
As is usually the case, the new idea of the European Parliament did not go unnoticed. The largest media corporations such as YouTube or Facebook are opposed, while the classic, traditional media - including media from Poland - are in favor.
How the voices were distributed:
- 342 MEPs - for,
- 274 - against,
- 36 - abstained.
There is still a "storm" in the European Parliament - another vote on copyright and amendments. In July 2018 The European Parliament rejected the draft changes.
New regulations in practice - why are Internet users against?
The new regulations mean greater, stricter media monitoring and no free access to many popular platforms. This generates losses for both platform owners and causes great anxiety among Internet users. Changes in copyright law also mean saying goodbye to famous memes that have been making everyday life happier and more bearable for many months. ACTA 2 means: tightening regulations on copyright and constant monitoring of Internet users' behavior. Owners of popular platforms may lose many recipients, the number of views on the most important, popular websites may decrease. It should also be emphasized that tightening copyright regulations may affect freedom of speech.
Controversial legal acts - "link tax"
The indignation was aroused by Art. 11 - known as "link tax". According to this provision, publishers will have the right to demand payment for placing a given material on another website.
Article 13 is also very emotional, obliging internet portals to intensify and reliably filter content. This is to prevent the use of specific works without the consent of the author. Portals such as cda.pl turned off some of their services in protest.
Changes in copyright law - unclear provisions and a wide field of interpretation
The project of changes arouses a lot of emotions, it moves the Internet. Unfortunately, there are many ambiguities here, issues that would need to be clarified and which may be freely interpreted by individual member states.