Dear Americans: Be Very, Very Afraid Of The EU's New Copyright Rules
from the the-closing-of-the-open-internet dept
Former MEP Julia Reda, who lead the fight to block the problematic parts of the EU Copyright Directive (and who came very close to succeeding against huge odds, but eventually lost) has published a really important piece for the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard about why the new Copyright Directive should terrify every American who recognizes the importance of an open internet. First off, these laws mostly target American companies -- many of which may just choose to follow the new EU rules globally.
Not only are European policy-makers keener than their US counterparts to regulate the mostly American tech companies that have gained significant market power over the last two decades. For better or for worse, the European Union has increasingly become capable of setting global regulatory standards, through the inclusion of its internet legislation in trade agreements, or by making compliance with these rules a precondition for accessing the vast EU market of over 500 million consumers.
That also means that the legacy entertainment and publishing industries who pushed so hard for the Copyright Directive in the past, are already looking at using the EU Copyright Directive as a wedge to get this put into the law elsewhere.
There is a tried-and-tested tradition of Hollywood companies lobbying for stricter copyright in Europe, just to turn around to US policy-makers to demand the same extensions be enacted in domestic law, in order to “stay competitive”. This strategy was successful in the case of the Sonny Bono Copyright Act of 1998, which extended copyright terms to 70 years after the death of the author, following a similar term extension in Europe in 1993. The purpose of the term extension, according to the Senate report, was to “provide significant trade benefits by substantially harmonizing U.S. copyright law to that of the European Union”. Of course, the EU would have been unlikely to extend its copyright terms to begin with, had it not been for the lobbying by American entertainment companies. It should therefore not come as a surprise that the US Copyright Office has repeatedly referred to the work on the new EU copyright directive as a reason for considering the overhaul of the US framework for copyright liability of online platforms, enshrined on section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
She then goes on to explain how Article 17 (what had been Article 13) will change the way internet platforms operate -- in a manner that will make it much more difficult for new startups platforms to be created, and where platforms will be forced to make it more difficult for anyone to post their own content. The whole thing will be an absolute mess, with significant litigation early on.
It’s impossible for platform operators to predict which copyrighted works by which rightsholders will be uploaded to their platform. Since copyright arises at the moment that a work is created, nowadays every person with a smartphone is a copyright holder, and most people frequently upload their works to the web (mostly in the form of pictures). It is therefore absolutely impossible for platforms to contact all rightsholders in the world and ask them for a license, on the off chance that one of their works might be uploaded to the platform at some point in the future. The directive is also silent on whether platforms would be forced to accept unfair license conditions at any cost to their own business.
The real effects of Article 17 will depend on the interpretation of “best efforts”. What level of diligence in blocking content, identifying rightsholders and negotiating license agreements can be expected of platforms depends on many factors, including their size, profitability and the types of content they host. Article 17 exposes platform operators to a lot of legal uncertainty and it will take many years for courts to hash out what these rules will mean in practice. The outcome is likely to privilege large, commercial rightsholders like the entertainment industry giants over independent artists.
The full article is worth reading -- highlighting how poorly filters actually work, and how the last minute attempts by EU lawmakers to "protect' user's rights has only resulted in contradictory requirements, which the first country (France) to try to implement a law based on the directive has "solved" by just ignoring the user rights parts.
And get ready, because next year you can bet that entertainment industry lobbyists are going to try to bring that law into the US as well. They're going to try to do it before it becomes evidence just what a complete and utter mess it created in the EU.
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Filed Under: article 13, article 17, copyright, eu copyright directive, filters, intermediary liability, julia reda
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And the copyright cartel will exploit that as much as possible to shutdown all self publishing, as why would they grant a license, when refusing to do so helps to re-establish their position of controlling culture.
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"First off, these laws mostly target American companies -- many of which may just choose to follow the new EU rules globally."
and said company risks following the new rules into the sunset
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Re:
The more they try to control it, the more it slips away.
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"Gulp, gulp, gulp," swallowed John Smith. "Sorry, did you say something?"
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I think what happens is that Facebook, Google, Twitter, Apple, etc. can afford to comply but startups cannot so if anything, these draconian copyright laws and directives will make those large American companies larger and prevent startups from ever leaving the ground running.
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Re: Re:
Ask Cox how much it costs per infringement by users when you fail to meet the expectations of the copyright cartel when it comes to reducing piracy. Statuary damages are such that they can be used to bankrupt any company as the claimed number of infringements scales by company size.
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Large corps go for the global market while small starups would stay local in order to avoid the draconian EU dress code. Users might tire of the global propaganda spewed from the large corps and stick with small local sites.
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But what about start ups in any country within the EU, as they cannot avoid such laws?
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Two things.
Laying bait for the trolls makes you worse than them.
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not a problem
...but we all agree that government regulation is a good and necessary economic mechanism generally.
Private media/publishing corporations would run wild against the public interest if not leashed by expert EU and US government regulators.
Minor problems in developing effiicient copyright rules are just a small annoyance... given the huge benefits of expansive copyright structures.
Government enforced monopoly copyrights are a great concept and government regulation is fundamental to human commerce.
(sarcasm, of course)
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Re: Re:
Boycott Hollywood.
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Re: Re: Re:
BoyCOTT HOLLYWood
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Well that ruins Christmas Eve for me.
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I wouldn’t just say America, I think the directive should worry the entire world.
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How the hell has the Planet become such a mess, ruled by nothing other than the entertainment industries? Had no one in position of authority realised what is going on? The world is being totally stifled by industries that are basically not needed, of no use whatsoever except to the heads of those industries. The World will continue if the entertainment industries cease tomorrow and progress in so many things would be enabled, rather than at the moment and as happened over mp3 players and home video recorders, restricted to the extent that we are stagnating. The entertainment industries are ruling us, taking money through their fear of losing control and our fear of being singled out for doing something, even nothing, that we cant defend ourselves against because of the impossible odds and financial differences. Even 'innocent unless ptoven guilty' has turned on it's head! These industries need to be curbed drastically and anyone in a position to influence what is happening because of self reward or encouragement need exposing. The worst thing to the Planet is how those industries, after decrying the uselessness of the internet and the accusations thrown left, right and centre at people, at platforms, at software and developers now cant do enough, regardless of the financial cost, to take complete control of this, the best information sharing means invented to date. Once we lose this, it wont come back and we'll have no one but ourselves, greedy industry heads and equally greedy officials in governments and security services to blame! It's going to be a massive loss to everyone, when it happens, a loss that is completely unnecessary and the ridicullous thing is, those who are instigating this wont be here forever but their selfishness and greed is going to be a legacy that we can all do without!!
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Going to close out 2019 with a statement which aligns with the overall consensus regarding the internet: Give up. You've already lost.
No matter how many articles Techdirt has written, the reality of truth is everything they've complained about happening has happened, with a few exceptions.
I've been stating for years on this site, under various names and accounts, Techdirt and its readers have no chance of winning the war against protecting the internet. The battle is over. The ruse is just placating the few who believe there's still a chance.
Let me preface this by starting with the biggest contributor to the destruction of the internet: Google.
Single-handedly, this company has ruined anything I'd call "internet", by washing its search results of anything the company deems bad, replacing it with links disguised as ads.
Following Google is the US entertainment industry, which forces companies all over the world to bow to its demands of more money. Each and every day, rules and regulations are stripped because old people governing citizens think the internet is nothing but a haven to pedophiles and thieves. Every. Single. Day. New legislation is brought to the table to "curb" both freedom of speech and people's right to access knowledge.
We've seen law enforcement with "wins" regarding bills like FOSTA. We've seen a temporary win against SOPA, but it's coming back (no way is Disney going to let go of its mouse, especially now with billions in its pockets) in pieces and parts.
Then there are the grassroots and gaslighting campaigns which spurn continuously to push agendas to change people's minds regarding how evil the internet is.
Recently, Techdirt wrote about one of these shills: Creative Future.
While I cannot disclose the heinous nature of this group, it is one in which everyone should scrutinize to the Nth degree. To underestimate this group will be the biggest mistake of 2020, if not the years later.
This organization can, and has, single-handedly destroyed our internet protections, one bill at a time. This group is also a large contributor and supporter (and many will claim authors) of the Articles which recently passed in the EU.
This is done because it's well established that by taking away freedoms piece by piece, no one sees it coming. Try to take it all at once, as SOPA tried, and it will fail.
The EU attack "against" American corporations is a planned assault, nearly 9 years in the making.
American corporations will pay no levy, no fines, nor taxes to the EU for "failing" to meet its regulatory standards.
It will simply comply, then pass this restrictive nature to the US.
It's literally how copyright laws of the Berne Convention, which the US adamantly defended against due to its draconian restrictions, found its way into our copyright laws, and will continue to do so until all avenues are extinguished.
I truly hope many of you still have the energy to fight this battle, but for me, I've long since exhausted my energy.
It is impossible to fight and win against stupid.
I fondly remember when people celebrated far too early when the FCC changed the rules, and Pai's succession proved why the celebration was too soon.
I challenged everyone then they were fighting the wrong battle, but they did not listen.
2020 is going to be the worst year on record when it comes to the internet.
I guarantee in 2021, the internet you know today will not be around.
And there's not a damn thing you can do to stop it. The fight started years ago and most of you didn't even notice it.
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idk, wasn't really addressing a single market.
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"Planet become such a mess, ruled by nothing other than the entertainment industries"
I see no evidence of this, perhaps I need glasses. Now if one were to replace entertainment with greed, it would be more correct.
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We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile
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Re:
Thats supposed to read, "Uraguay."
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Re: not a problem
Thanks for adding the sarcasm part.. I was thinking, "who is writing this?"
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Thing is they are unlikely to take control of the internet, its not WHEN it happen but IF it happen and its likely it wont. also its likely that the Copyright Directive will be taken down sooner then later in court and there been talk france will be force to delay there bill to bring it into law because it does not fit the directive and MEP have been calling them out also the Cox Communications ruling will be overturned at appeal.
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Hopefully not because Copyright Directive will be taken down sooner then later in court.
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Pretty sure the Copyright Directive will be taken down sooner then later in court and I heard there been talk france will be force to delay there bill to bring it into law because it does not fit the directive and MEP have been calling them out also the Cox Communications ruling will be overturned at appeal.
Also many are trying to protect the internet so I dont think the ones over the years that have been saying its over and there nothing everyone can do about it are right.
Hopefully the Copyright Directive will be taken down in European Court of Justice, Best thing everyone can do is not give up.
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As it should be.
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No. No, it isn’t.
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Article here about the European Commission calling out france so it may be force to backtrack and delay the Directive
https://european-pirateparty.eu/kolaja-the-french-implementation-of-the-copyright-directive-counter -the-conclusions-of-the-european-commission/
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A person is ready to fight only if they’re prepared to lose. But since you’ve given up already, how about you go share the sadsack woe-is-us pessimistic bullshit somewhere that is similarly as hopeless as you?
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Not every start up in the EU is targeting the the single market, they can target their own country or region.
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The single market being internet business in the EU.
Guess it was not clear enough.
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And thats the fun part.
Its the Same old thing. restricting and controlling information that was done with the news papers, and TV..
Dont let them see whats happening, dont let them educate themselves.
Let the pretty colors Sooth you, and never bother you..
Every time we turn around, the nations keep trying to treat the internet as if it belongs to them, And its going to get a Chunky as the rest of the world. 1 nation dont want this the other cant have that, but the rest can see it..
What many aint seen, is that there are restrictions already in place you may not have noticed. There are Area restrictions that wont let you watch TV-news channels from other countries. Cartoons made in the USA cant be watched from other countries, in english or that other language. it happened long ago, you could goto Yahoo, in other countries and Try to play Their versions, or Watch movies(made here/there) and you COULD NOT, for Some odd reason.. Yes, VPN, but that wont last for long.
As to Copyrights.. No nation had the same laws, and it was interesting that we could Watch the BBC series on some channels, then BBC USA came up.. You still cant goto The England sites and watch those shows.
Dear Nations, I think you really like your taxes, but think about how much money is going to the Corps pockets.. I thought you were supposed to be the one with the pockets to control the corps. NOT FOR LONG.. Soon everything we do will belong to Corps and we get charged to Breathe on this world...its the last thing to charge us for..
You would think that OPEN MARKET, meant something, competition..? letting Others like china walk into a market and sell direct.
It was interesting that in the past, we could take something created in another country and use it, because they didnt get a international Copyright. And many nations Didnt care..until...Some corps got and idea of how they could make more money.
Long ago a strange idea came about. That the Gov. was to big, that the Gov. did to much. Understand something. If the Corps controlled the roads, Every ?? mile you traveled you would be charged for using that road..a Road that was built by your taxes. And 90% of all advancements in the USA were paid for by the Tax payers.. really. Corps dont like change. they like you to keep buying the same Crap, over and over.. The old Original VHS machines were great, and then the quality went Cheaper and Cheaper.. and even the record button disappeared.
Iv suggested many time that the Internet should/could become its Own country. those that OWN most of it, could just Do as they wish. And if a Nation didnt like it or parts of it, they could Just Block it, or CUT the internet.(try it, we are all hooked worst then the old boob tube)
What would happen if 1 of the ISP's Quit and shut down? Someone else would jump in. take over...Maybe even the STATE it happens in.
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Re:
This is what I say to friends and acquaintances who say "I hope [activity X happens in politics].":
Hope is not a strategy.
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lol
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Re: Re:
"Hope is not a stratagy."
I crack up over all the politicians using, "change" for their running platform! Change sucks because just change is bullshit. Things for the last 50 years at least have been changing, but changing for the worst.
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Re: Re: Re: Re:
Holly COTT boyWOOD
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If they couldn't win by world war, they will win with this directive.
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When I want a book, I buy the dead tree version, which I can loan to anyone or even copy pages tht are relevant to something someone else needs. (Most of the books I buy are reference books.)
Electronic media? Fuck that. Most so called entertainment, like movies, aren't worth payng to watch, so as far as I'm concerned, they can copyright that to death so that it disappears for lack of people's willing to pay exhorbitant amounts for crap. If it's really worthwhile, I'm sure it can be found somewhere that it can be had free, which to spite the copyright industry, people should obtain that way on general principles.
Social media? I'm sorry for anyone who got sucked into that, but you should have known better.
And, the entire issue of screening uploads could probably have been avoided if instead of a few companies trying to be all things to all people, there were much smaller ecosystems that appealed to specific interests. For example, If I read posts on physicsforums, I never see any abusive behaviour nor do I think the administrators have a onerous task in revieing content. This seems to be true for any site that I have come across which is tailored to specific interests. Youtube has a problem because it's a repository for everything, including offensive content, video trolling, conspiracy theories, so-called copyright violations, etc.
The copyright industry is just shooting itself in the foot and continuing to reload. The more they are assholes, the more people it will piss off and the more acceptable it will be to just blow them off and find the content elsewhere (and there will always be those types of sites around). Fuck 'em. Going around them is a form of lobbying, too.
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Says someone joining in a conversation on an open comments section. Same thing different words.
That works for forums with a very small and specialized audience, which excludes 95% of the human race.
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More likely, companies will try to block EU users, then watch the VPN market explode.
Contrary to what some people think, end users cannot be prosecuted for circumventing geofencing. The DMCA anti circumvention provisions do not apply to the end user, it only applies to those people who supply circumvention tools, and to it for money.
For example,when take road trips to Mexico, and use the VPN on my home computer to listen to my iHeart playlists on my phone, I am not breaking any laws in either Mexico or the United States. I am already paying iHeart to use their service, so I am not breaking any laws doing so.
I use VPN anyway, because even though with an "unlimited" plan, video and audio will be throttled if you use more than 35GB a month, and using a VPN to circumvent that does not break any laws in either the USA or Mexico.
With my connection encrypted, my cell phone provider cannot see that I am streaming audio or video, so the connection it not throttled.
Even if that is not the case, anything higher than 480p is throttled, and using a VPN to bypass that, like I said, does not break any laws in the USA, Mexico, Canada (if I go to Canada)
It is just like when I use to an online radio station and went to North Korea some years ago to cover a sporting event there. To bring your phone into North Korea, you have to use a sim card from KoryoLink. Unlocking my phone, so I would use it on KoryoLink did not break the DMCA in the United States, becuase I was not doing it for any kind of financial gain. As an end user, it was not a felony crime under the DMCA to unlock my phone to use a KoryoLink sim card while in the DPRK, since I was not doing it for any kind of financial gain. The felony provisions of the DMCA do not apply to end users, just those who distribute the tools for the purpose of making money
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The US making such a law will clash with the USMCA, if it is ratified, since CDA 230 and DMCA safe habor protections are enshrined in the agreement and the House has already passed it.
Whether the Senate passes it, I am not so sure, since there are two senators who are former Attornies General who outright hate CDA 230 and DMCA 512. I could see Kamala Harris and/or Josh Hawley doing eithier a procedural hold or fillbuster on it it, and I don't think the Senate has the 60 votes needed to break either.
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Re: ahem
From all of us to you:
WOMP WOMP
that is all
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Yeah, that's horseshit.
I don't like Facebook or Twitter, and I don't use them. But there are a variety of reasons why people choose to use them -- among others, it's awfully hard to run a business these days without a social media presence -- and shrugging and saying "it's your own damn fault" to the billions-with-a-b of people who use these services is ignorant and myopic.
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"Things for the last 50 years at least have been changing, but changing for the worst."
Ever since reagan? Yeah, I guess so but there were some things that didn't suck, right?
Trickle down economics did not work for anyone but the rich while smoke and mirrors did not work for anyone but the gullible. Tax reform was a joke for everyone but the rich while law 'n order did not work for anyone but law enforcement.
But yeah - change for change sake is stupid. Most of the latest changes are the most stupid.
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A fan of MAD
Redirect the efforts the hollywood studios who are Katy parrying the crap out of everything and we will see how fast this thing lives.
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Cyberpunks.com published an interesting article on the utter clusterf*ck that is EU / UK internet law last month. It looks like it was written some time ago, and updated recently. Worth a read: https://www.cyberpunks.com/eu-internet-piece/
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"The more they try to control it, the more it slips away."
Concur. Even if the copyright cult manages to get everything they asked for the only thing that would bring is that the deep net will become the new online standard - since that will be the only place where it would be safe to display any webpage.
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"I think what happens is that Facebook, Google, Twitter, Apple, etc. can afford to comply..."
That remains to be seen. I'm not sure article 13 and 11 would allow any platform to retain profitability in reality. It's no longer a case of merely having the money to make a vast initial investment - it has to be balanced against the guarantee that irrespective of the investment size even Google or Facebook will eventually have to face a hostile EU court over a 4%-of-annual-turnover fine.
I think what happens is that every company still intending to do business online will simply have to avoid having any servers placed in or addresses registered in the EU/member states domains.
The next step will inevitably be for the EU bureaucracy to realize the only thing to happen is for every IT company to pull out of the EU while the online citizenry all redirect their browsers to addresses outside of EU control. Followed swiftly by an inquiry into how hard it would be to build a chinese firewall around europe.
That's when the real crap will hit the fan, because at that point the ECHR and EUCJ will both be tapping into the ring, if not before.
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Re: Re: not a problem
"I was thinking, "who is writing this?""
I was sure it was Bobmail/Jhon/Blue offering his usual diatribe...and then saw the sarcasm tag.
Poe's Law really does make things hard when it comes to identifying the normal resident troll offers on these forums.
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"No matter how many articles Techdirt has written, the reality of truth is everything they've complained about happening has happened, with a few exceptions."
Except everything, you mean.
Certainly, both the US and the EU have consistently made laws more insane than the previous, all in order to "control" the internet...and yet, there's not one single practical example to be found on how those laws have made any difference.
Copyright is in fundamental conflict with free speech - and thus any law which actually enables enforcement must, inherently eradicate free speech as well.
And any such law will be a direct attack on the US constitution and EU charter alike, both of whom have weathered far more sincere challenges backed by far more influential organizations than the entertainment industry.
"And there's not a damn thing you can do to stop it. The fight started years ago and most of you didn't even notice it."
This war started with the printing press and to date not one single technology was ever put back in the bottle despite many of the adversaries being able to literally burn people at the stake over it.
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If you think that the copyright cartel will not force the ISPs into blocking anything they disprove of, you have not been following their activities. Further, the darknet will always be limited to what and black hack hackers and other technological nerds. In effect the world would return to the old BBS days, and in necessary via the re-expansion of FidoNet, which is still active in some parts of the world.
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The U.S. must take Monroe Doctrine now.
Allahu Akbar!
The U.S. must take Monroe Doctrine now.
The U.S. must withdraw American Forces from all Foreign Countries now.
Stop America's doing its all wars now!
The U.S. must return to the gold standard now!
The U.S. must adopt the gold standard again now!
The U.S. must decrease its military-budget to 100-billion-dollar per year now.
Or, the U.S. must decrease its military-budget to 1% of its GDP now.
I love American99% and the U.S.
Germany and Japan must loosen Germany's and Japan's monetary policies now!
Germany and Japan must stimulate Germany's and Japan's domestic demands now!
Japan and Germany must issue a lot of construction bond now!
Japan and Germany must reduce Germany's and Japan's taxes now!
The U.S. must tighten its monetary policy now!
As a result, Dollar value will rise!
The U.S. will have trade surplus!
Japan and Germany are evil empires.
Islamists' true enemies are Japan, Germany, FRB, Top1%, Wall Street, American Military Industry and DOD!
Japan is the country which has been promoting Globalization!!!
Allahu Akbar!
American Revolutionary War!
We American 99% have the 2nd amendment!
American Revolutionary War!
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Japanese-bureaucrats are the main largest promoters of FTA.
Wall-Street, American-top1%, American-Military-Industry are colluding with Japan and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
US DOD, Japan and Germany are enemies of American99%.
US DOD, Japan and Germany are enemies of mankind.
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"If you think that the copyright cartel will not force the ISPs into blocking anything they disprove of, you have not been following their activities."
Oh, I have. ISP's MAY be forced to block. And it won't work. No matter which level they do it on.
"Further, the darknet will always be limited to what and black hack hackers and other technological nerds."
You realize that Tor, zeronet, and to some degree, Tribler are one-click-install-run examples of the darknet? It stopped being the nerd-only domain back in the 90's. We don't need to configure .exe and .bat to start PC's anymore, either.
"In effect the world would return to the old BBS days, and in necessary via the re-expansion of FidoNet, which is still active in some parts of the world."
Yes and then again, no. Tech has progressed a lot beyond the times of the trusty old usenet BBS servers.
The copyright cult has tried - multiple times - to usurp and stopper technology. They never succeeded. The internet promises to be the biggest bone of contention since the VCR and the tape cassette but, if anything, the internet harder by far to regulate. Hence why the only sparing successes the copyright cult has had is by trying to get governments to introduce legislation fulfilling their goals as a side effect - which has effectively failed at anything other than making the legal side of the open net harder to use.
There's just too much convenience and money in the internet though, so every time a new piece of insane legislation comes around the market itself does its best to route around the damage. If need be by simply evacuating offices and servers from the responsible country.
There'll be some more whack-a-mole in the next few decades but the writing is on the wall - the copyright cult lost decisively the very second Darpanet came online way back when. If piracy had actually been a threat to them they'd be dead long ago. As it isn't, they'll just keep being annoying until they finally realize every dollar they spend in lobbying and punitive efforts is a dollar completely wasted.
Give it a generation or two until the last holdovers in the copyright cult start folding on this "war".
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Re:
Yes, sweetcheeks. Turn around, and get on your knees.
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