The EU Hates Memes

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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The EU Legal Affairs Committee has voted to push further its tougher copyright laws in order to get a hold of companies like Google, Facebook, and MySpace. OK, maybe not MySpace. The big clenchers here are Article 11 and Article "We hate political memes" 13. Article 11 could hold companies responsible for allowing copyrighted content on their services, such as when Facebook allows 6M people to watch a pirated copy of Deadpool. Article 13 is the EU's way of dealing with all those nasty memes that are destroying the world. All in all, the EU is putting the responsibility on the companies that own these platform, but rest assured the new filtering that we will soon see will not be used in any type of political slant.

German lawmaker Julia Reda, part of the Greens group in the parliament, opposed the EU proposal and said the measures would break the internet. “People will run into trouble doing everyday things like discussing the news and expressing themselves online. Locking down our freedom to participate to serve the special interests of large media companies is unacceptable,” she said in a statement.
 
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“It is especially disappointing that just a few weeks after the entry into force of the GDPR - a law that made Europe a global regulatory standard bearer - parliamentarians have approved a law that will fundamentally damage the internet in Europe, with global ramifications,” she said, referring to Europe’s new data protection law.



Too bad no one saw this coming.

Literally no one.
 
Most people don't realize they will apply it to any site accessible from Europe. Which means if I post a link to a meme, Kyle gets to pay a tax if they have a way to tax him. If they don't they can probably tax his hosting company instead. Pretty much demands the ending of 'linking' anything. Even if you create a meme with all original art and say it's free, you have to give permission on a case by case basis, you can't blanket give away content.

It's pretty obvious Establishment Media is friendly to the Establishment and they want it to go back to the good old days and secure their power.
 
If you are using [H]ardForum while in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, this forum does not apply.

/s
 
"The [Legal Affairs Committee] voted in favor of tougher copyright rules on Wednesday."
"The vote by the Legal Affairs Committee is likely to be the Parliament’s official stance as it heads into negotiations with EU countries on a common position, unless dissenting lawmakers force a vote at the general assembly next month."

A committee voted, the parliament hasn't (yet).
We'll see how this goes, not very optimistic though =/
 
A bunch of socialists want to remove all traces of free speech, who would have guessed.

While this is clearly a stupid law that will hopefully be struck down or amended (it's not final yet). You might want to consider informing yourself before posting stupid things.

This law has been pushed by lobby/interest groups and not by ideological groups. As a matter of fact if you would've bothered to do a 5 second search you would've discovered that the above mentioned opposing MEP (Julia Reda, part of the Greens group) part of a center-left alliance while the guy (Axel Voss) pushing this through parlament is center-right

Btw I am not trying to advocate in my post either ideological position, just pointing out that posting uninformed stuff is stupid.

anyway for any EU citizen here is a link to Julia Reda's take on this, she also provides info on how to contact your MEP and try and fight this:

https://juliareda.eu/2018/03/voss-link-tax/
 
Sadly, this is the beginning of lock-step totalitarianism. Freedom is a nasty word apparently, no profit in it for the government sluggos.
 
"The [Legal Affairs Committee] voted in favor of tougher copyright rules on Wednesday."
"The vote by the Legal Affairs Committee is likely to be the Parliament’s official stance as it heads into negotiations with EU countries on a common position, unless dissenting lawmakers force a vote at the general assembly next month."

A committee voted, the parliament hasn't (yet).
We'll see how this goes, not very optimistic though =/
Updated, thanks.
 
If someone from Canada or the EU puts their nose into US politics in the [H] forums then they are totally chastised. What kind of fucking hypocrisy is that?
Completely :) I got banned from here for posting that trump was actually doing what he said he would do :)
 
A bunch of socialists want to remove all traces of free speech, who would have guessed.

Merkel of Germany and the creep in France are not socialists. They are from capitalist anti-worker parties. Your tinted glasses are showing. You really think Trump likes free speech? He is a hybrid Kluxer-Nazi. You ever see him with his Mussolini roid rage poses??? Blind nationalism is an erroneous way of viewing the world. The world is ruled by class relationships. National conflicts are really masks for class conflicts and inter-imperialist rivalries . Finance capital drives these conflicts. When finance capital goes in crisis we see what is playing out now in the world: Trade wars, growing fascism in Europe, the US, and Asia, the capitalist solution to these conflicts is ultimately world war. The victor redraws the terms of trade and commerce. The loser takes a back seat. The workers universally suffer in this regimen. But the crisis also present an opportunity for revolutionary change. Read Capital volume 1. It is as true today as it was 145 years ago. The science is there.
 
If someone from Canada or the EU puts their nose into US politics in the [H] forums then they are totally chastised. What kind of fucking hypocrisy is that?
The EU is a protectionist racket forever trying to control and leech money from US companies. Add to that its member states don't pay their share of 2% of their GDP on defense in NATO—expecting the US to continue to shoulder the burden for their defense while they blow all their money on socialist programs—then I say, yes, their politics are our business.
 
While this is clearly a stupid law that will hopefully be struck down or amended (it's not final yet). You might want to consider informing yourself before posting stupid things.

This law has been pushed by lobby/interest groups and not by ideological groups. As a matter of fact if you would've bothered to do a 5 second search you would've discovered that the above mentioned opposing MEP (Julia Reda, part of the Greens group) part of a center-left alliance while the guy (Axel Voss) pushing this through parlament is center-right

Btw I am not trying to advocate in my post either ideological position, just pointing out that posting uninformed stuff is stupid.

anyway for any EU citizen here is a link to Julia Reda's take on this, she also provides info on how to contact your MEP and try and fight this:

https://juliareda.eu/2018/03/voss-link-tax/


I love how you on the left constantly attempt arguments through obfuscation of labels that only YOUR side defines. Voss is about as "center-right" as Bernie Sanders. You know who is another prominent member of his so called, "center-right" CDU party? Angela Merkel...the open borders left wing EU statist currently brutalizing her own people in the name of immigration and open borders. A fringe left wing policy so your simple labels mean nothing. Look at the policies these people push. Any chance you on the left get to abuse power to suppress those on the right you do it without hesitation. You weaponize government departments into thugs. You weaponize social media with two different standards. No one buys your garbage any more, and what you just provided is misinformation.
 
It's astonishing that a bunch of un-elected bankers and corporate tzars have taken over the governments of Europe and hardly anyone did anything to stop them. And now they want to control what is said in public, wow imagine that.
 
You know, I love Europe. A lot of European countries are pretty cool, I haven't met many Europeans that I don't like (especially in the German, Scandinavian, Swiss, French, British regions as those are who I interact with most) but I do absolutely HATE the EU as an entity.
 
So basically, they setup the framework where they can pass laws that are essentially impossible to comply with in the real world (which they don't live in), but leave it up to everyone else to figure out how to actually comply with them (or face huge fines, which they get the money from). Then they pass tons of bullshit laws.
 
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MEME's are really the ONLY reason i step into forums and threads that are political in nature, because.. regardless of the issue.. they can be some DAMN funny shit

and man.. this planet could really use a good humor enema right about now...
 
So basically, they setup the framework where they can pass laws that are essentially impossible to comply with in the real world (which they don't live in), but leave it up to everyone else to figure out how to actually comply with them (or face huge fines, which they get the money from). Then they pass tons of bullshit laws.

That seems to be the gist of it from the little I've gleaned.
 
I love how you on the left constantly attempt arguments through obfuscation of labels that only YOUR side defines. Voss is about as "center-right" as Bernie Sanders. You know who is another prominent member of his so called, "center-right" CDU party? Angela Merkel...the open borders left wing EU statist currently brutalizing her own people in the name of immigration and open borders. A fringe left wing policy so your simple labels mean nothing. Look at the policies these people push. Any chance you on the left get to abuse power to suppress those on the right you do it without hesitation. You weaponize government departments into thugs. You weaponize social media with two different standards. No one buys your garbage any more, and what you just provided is misinformation.

While hello there crazy conspiracy theorist guy. Did you even read in my post that I am strongly against this law.

As a matter of fact I am very strongly pro freedom of speech, and what I posted is not misinformation is simply verifiable fact:

The MEP proposing this law is to the right politically of the opposing MEP. I was trying to point out that contrary to some crazy nut-job theories that this is some sort of evil left-ist theory, this law is based on good old fashion lobby/business interests.

So perhaps if people would get off their crazy soap boxes and actually bother to contact the MEPs though the link I provided we might even get this repealed.


here is another more direct link on how to contact the MEPs:

https://act1.openmedia.org/savethelink

You know, I love Europe. A lot of European countries are pretty cool, I haven't met many Europeans that I don't like (especially in the German, Scandinavian, Swiss, French, British regions as those are who I interact with most) but I do absolutely HATE the EU as an entity.

If you take into consideration its ROOT goal is to prevent it's members from going to war with each other (which if you look at European history that was basically the normal) it has been quite successful.
 
Wonder
While this is clearly a stupid law that will hopefully be struck down or amended (it's not final yet). You might want to consider informing yourself before posting stupid things.

This law has been pushed by lobby/interest groups and not by ideological groups. As a matter of fact if you would've bothered to do a 5 second search you would've discovered that the above mentioned opposing MEP (Julia Reda, part of the Greens group) part of a center-left alliance while the guy (Axel Voss) pushing this through parlament is center-right

Btw I am not trying to advocate in my post either ideological position, just pointing out that posting uninformed stuff is stupid.

anyway for any EU citizen here is a link to Julia Reda's take on this, she also provides info on how to contact your MEP and try and fight this:

https://juliareda.eu/2018/03/voss-link-tax/
Interest in passing these laws has clearly developed in response to political events not going the way the powers that be wanted. It was harder for the media to disinform people about Brexit and cajole them into supporting it. Pretty sure it's the anti-nation forces who want to stop Brexit and the anti-nation forces are heavily composed of ardent socialists.
 
If you take into consideration its ROOT goal is to prevent it's members from going to war with each other (which if you look at European history that was basically the normal) it has been quite successful.

I won't argue that. My distaste comes mostly from business laws and impositions, misguided environmental laws (certain RoHS things as one example) etc. As far as foreign policy and other forms of politics, I don't really follow it enough to debate on those topics.
 
If you take into consideration its ROOT goal is to prevent it's members from going to war with each other (which if you look at European history that was basically the normal) it has been quite successful.
Way to take credit for the Cold War and NATO and US hegemony. Now that the cold war is over and you're believing your own press about how you do it better, Germany is marching Europe to war again.
 
Merkel of Germany and the creep in France are not socialists. They are from capitalist anti-worker parties. Your tinted glasses are showing. You really think Trump likes free speech? He is a hybrid Kluxer-Nazi. You ever see him with his Mussolini roid rage poses??? Blind nationalism is an erroneous way of viewing the world. The world is ruled by class relationships. National conflicts are really masks for class conflicts and inter-imperialist rivalries . Finance capital drives these conflicts. When finance capital goes in crisis we see what is playing out now in the world: Trade wars, growing fascism in Europe, the US, and Asia, the capitalist solution to these conflicts is ultimately world war. The victor redraws the terms of trade and commerce. The loser takes a back seat. The workers universally suffer in this regimen. But the crisis also present an opportunity for revolutionary change. Read Capital volume 1. It is as true today as it was 145 years ago. The science is there.

Sorry, I should have said communists just for you.
 
I won't argue that. My distaste comes mostly from business laws and impositions, misguided environmental laws (certain RoHS things as one example) etc. As far as foreign policy and other forms of politics, I don't really follow it enough to debate on those topics.

Is the EU perfect? absolutely not. There are many many things that can be improved. My argument is that as a concept is still solid and it should be improved not scrapped. However this tread is about that stupid copyright law so let's not derail it by going on a tangent.


Wonder
Interest in passing these laws has clearly developed in response to political events not going the way the powers that be wanted. It was harder for the media to disinform people about Brexit and cajole them into supporting it. Pretty sure it's the anti-nation forces who want to stop Brexit and the anti-nation forces are heavily composed of ardent socialists.

I will not waste my time debating shadowy political conspiracy theories. I simply posted the facts relating to the political affiliation of the two most visible MEP implicated in this.

Anyway, again my argument is that instead of wasting time on conspiracy theories let's take the time and do this right:

If you are a EU citizen contact your MEP:
https://act1.openmedia.org/savethelink

Also considering the possible wide ranging implications of this law if you are a US citizen contact your representative. The US has has quite a bit (read massive) of international diplomatic power.
 
Is the EU perfect? absolutely not. There are many many things that can be improved. My argument is that as a concept is still solid and it should be improved not scrapped. However this tread is about that stupid copyright law so let's not derail it by going on a tangent.

No such entity is perfect. I also agree, improvement is probably better than the scrapped and rebuilt alternative. Yes, my comments were a tangent to some degree, however, this MEME thing falls in line with my criticisms, that's the only reason I brought them up. I don't think we're disagreeing here.
 
Way to take credit for the Cold War and NATO and US hegemony. Now that the cold war is over and you're believing your own press about how you do it better, Germany is marching Europe to war again.

Way to completely put words in my mouth, the US has absolutely been a positive force in Europe and it will still probably be in the future, who said anything to the contrary.


No such entity is perfect. I also agree, improvement is probably better than the scrapped and rebuilt alternative. Yes, my comments were a tangent to some degree, however, this MEME thing falls in line with my criticisms, that's the only reason I brought them up. I don't think we're disagreeing here.

Like you said it looks like we are not much in disagreement. This is one of the areas the EU really needs to improve, oh and and people should really pay more attention when voting for the EU parliament (voter turnout is abysmal)
 
Sooo, how long before websites just start blocking EU IP's instead of comply?

That would probably work. It'd just take a coordinated effort. If all the major players decided to just turn off the EU, they'd have so much backlash they'd turn-face very quickly. In an ideal world, that would be how this plays out.

The problem is, these companies are going to weigh how much revenue they make from the EU versus how much it costs to integrate such a filter into their platforms.
 
If someone from Canada or the EU puts their nose into US politics in the [H] forums then they are totally chastised. What kind of fucking hypocrisy is that?

When EU politics nose into internal US business, that's where we nose in.
 
l-33808-we-making-memes-with-copyrighted-f-images-so-the-eu-l.jpg
 
I actually prefer a meme with a bit more creativity, or some random-ass image dredged up from the depths of the internet to an obvious corporate (likely copyrighted one) unless it's a very specific and funny-enough-to-be-worth-it sort of deal. Still, unless your business is creating content, my feeling is that once something is posted on the internet, it's fair game for any form of regurgitation.

I post music all the time. I don't know or care if all that many people like it, but I fully expect that it'll be ripped off in some way, used for humorous purposes, used for some commercial venture that makes someone else money that I'm completely unaware of, etc. If I was worried, I wouldn't post it on the fucking internet. :D
 
1529501314i54wi8jm0o_1_1.jpg

EU Circle Jerk Now In-session!

Wouldn't it just be simpler for them to completely cut off acces to the internet outside the confines of the EU?
 
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