Your favourite websites CENSORED

URGENT: The European Union is just weeks from passing a law that would destroy the best things about the Internet as we know it. As a result of lobbying by big corporate publishers, the European Commission is proposing to force websites to pay a tax to link to news content and use censorship machines to block uploaded content.1,2 The link tax would affect not just Europe, but every website based in or used in Europe — which means potentially every website in the world. Websites like Reddit could be shut down virtually overnight. Along with our partners, OpenMedia is launching a global day of action on June 12 to stop the link tax and save the free and open Internet. Will you chip in to Save the Link? The European Commission would require websites to utilize automated content-filtering technology that costs millions of dollars and thousands of manpower hours, likely decimating small online businesses and startups. The proposal also makes it impossible to opt out of charging for content, meaning that sites can’t share their information for free even if they want to.3 This law is an attack on the free press and the open Internet. Even the author of the law admitted it is „maybe not the best idea.“4 But the European Commission is bowing to pressure from corporate publishing companies that are simply trying to protect their bottom lines and outdated business models. Remember: If this law passes, it’s not just Europe that will be affected. Just as the recent EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) caused privacy terms to be updated for users around the world, the websites we use every day in America, Canada, Japan, and beyond will be irreparably harmed by this ludicrous law. The link tax is a fatal threat to the free and open Internet worldwide, and we won’t stand for it. OpenMedia is driving calls to MEPs across Europe and lobbying the EU Parliament directly to vote down the link tax. Will you chip in to Save the Link and stop the European Commission’s terrible link tax? SAVE THE LINK https://act.openmedia.org/stl-0606?src=162684 Thank you for standing with us, Dave, and the whole team at OpenMedia Footnotes: [1] To Axel Voss, the European Commission’s plan for a link tax is not extreme enough: Julia Reda [2] Mandatory upload filters in the EU?: Janos Pasztor [3] Head of copyright committee wants to deny EU creators the right to share: Creative Commons [4] To Axel Voss, the European Commission’s plan for a link tax is not extreme enough: Julia Reda

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U.S. border

Victoria at OpenMedia

Can you imagine doing this at the airport? You take off your shoes, put your liquids in the x-ray tray… and then hand over your unlocked phone to a border agent for them to look through? In the U.S., a disturbing proposal is on the table: Key U.S. politicians want to force every single traveller crossing the border to hand over their digital devices, unlock them, and provide their social media passwords.1 Border agents would then look through your private messages to loved ones, sensitive financial information, photos, browsing history, and contacts – and even download the information to store it in their giant databases. It’s intrusive and unsafe, and we’d have no way of knowing who it’s shared with or how it’s stored. https://act.openmedia.org/DefendBorderPrivacy?src=161255 But if we speak up now, and hit key government bodies with pressure from all around the world, we can stop this dead in its tracks. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has just said he wants the power to unlock your devices and hand over social media passwords to be the new normal. Our greatest chance to kill this proposal is well before it becomes enshrined in law. That’s why we need you to take urgent action today. https://act.openmedia.org/DefendBorderPrivacy?src=161255 The awful truth is that it’s already perfectly legal for customs agents to search any electronic device being brought into the country “without a warrant and without suspicion.”2 Border agents are not only abusing this legal loophole, but now they’re keen to extend these powers even further. They’re not going to stop until every single traveller across a U.S. border is subjected to this gross civil rights violation. We’re targeting three key U.S. government bodies with a call to stop this violation of personal privacy. They need to hear now from the international community that this will stifle tourism and cross border commerce. Stand up for privacy and send a message now. https://act.openmedia.org/DefendBorderPrivacy?src=161255 This is the powerful beginning of a movement to stop not just this, but all outrageous digital privacy violations at borders. I hope I can count you in! https://act.openmedia.org/DefendBorderPrivacy?src=161255 Thanks for everything you do. Victoria with OpenMedia PS This affects you even if you don’t travel to the U.S. Any private messages or photos you sent to anyone who then crosses the border will be in the hands of U.S. authorities. If we don’t speak up now these mandatory phone download powers will become the norm not just in the U.S., but all over the world. Act now! Footnotes [1] We Already Screen Cell Phones At The Border, Will Social Media Be Any Different?: Forbes [2] I’ll never bring my phone on an international flight again. Neither should you. FreeCodeCamp

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48 hours to kill the link tax

Time is really running out to save the link: If you haven’t already can you share our petition with as many people as possible on Facebook and Twitter before the final deadline 48 hours from now? Save the Link https://www.facebook.com/login.php   https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=http://openmedia.org&source=tweetbutton&text=Only+48hrs+remain+to+stop+the+%23LinkTax.+Tell+the+EU+Commission+to+scrap+it+at+http://savethelink.org/eu+%23AncillaryCopyright There’s only 48 hours left to tell the European Commission not to make link tax laws! What is happening now? There is one last consultation on proposals for an EU-wide link tax before the Commission starts writing their draft law.1 These proposals suggest making copyright laws apply to hyperlinks – going as far as suggesting all publishers should have the ability to charge fees to website owners for all the links shared.2 This is is our best chance to make sure that the link tax never enters that document at all. The consultation closes on the 15th June: that’s only 48 hours away. Can you share our campaign on Facebook and Twitter to make sure as many people as possible take action? The Commission has already heard from the lobbyists and the publishers industry reps and from politicians from across the party spectrum. But they need to hear from Internet users like you. The last few weeks have been huge for our Save the Link campaign! Here’s a quick recap on how our pressure is already making a difference: We went to Strasbourg to deliver the voices of over 10,000 people to top MEPs in response to the broad consultation the Commission ran on rules governing websites.3 The Commission released their official response to this consultation: devoting several pages to your comments. Thanks to you, the Commission admitted that their link tax is unpopular and undemocratic.4 That’s a really powerful achievement. And to make sure we have a huge impact we’re written detailed answers to the full consultation which we’ve shared with publishers, search engines and journalists to help them reply and we’ll be sharing it with the UK Government and the EU Commission.5 The Commission also released a further wave of plans hidden amongst them we saw the same old idea: looking for a way to charge for sharing content, and simply making links available. It’s an even stronger reason to make sure that we continue to show up in force to save the link. Now we need to drive it home: we only have two days left to tell the commission not to make link tax laws. Can you help put the idea of extra copyright on links to rest by sharing our campaign on Facebook and Twitter before the final deadline? https://www.facebook.com/login.php https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=http://openmedia.org&source=tweetbutton&text=Only+48hrs+remain+to+stop+the+%23LinkTax.+Tell+the+EU+Commission+to+scrap+it+at+http://savethelink.org/eu+%23AncillaryCopyright Best wishes, Ruth PS: Lots of people use social media to share stories and learn about issues that affect them – but there are also many who are not on Facebook and Twitter! If you can, consider forwarding this email to five friends who might not see it on social media. It will make all the difference! Footnotes We want you to be as informed as possible about the situation, so please check out the links below (We do love those links!) [1] What the heck is ancillary copyright anyway and why do we call it a link tax? Source: OpenMedia [2] How additional rights for publishers will hurt education and access to culture. Source: Communia [3] Delivering your voices at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Source: OpenMedia [4] Full report on the results of the public consultation on the Regulatory environment for Platforms, Online Intermediaries and the Collaborative Economy. Source: European Commission [5] EU Public consultation on the role of publishers in the copyright value chain. Source: NewsNow For more information, we always update the latest info on Save the Link here!

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I’m taking you to the European Parliament

Ruth Coustick-Deal

Key decision-makers in Europe have renewed their efforts to bring in the innovation-killing link tax (a.k.a. ancillary copyright). Thanks to your outcry against the link tax, EU parliamentarians on the Digital Agenda Intergroup have offered me a meeting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France to deliver your comments on the link tax and intermediary liability so far, and to ensure your voice is on the record. This meeting is a can’t-miss opportunity to represent you directly to EU decision-makers and strengthen our links with influential allies in the European Parliament. https://act.openmedia.org/expression/donate?src=159492 We only have a few days to set this meeting up and get our petition on a train to Strasbourg. Please, Sylvia, sustain your Save the Link campaign with a gift today. https://act.openmedia.org/expression/donate?src=159492 If 100 community members join in with a $10 CAD (€6.82/£5.37) donation, we’ll be able to fund our trip to deliver your comments. If we raise more than that, we’ll dedicate it to building future actions, running our campaign pages and resources, and working with network partners to defend linking worldwide. What happens if we let copyright rules be extended to hyperlinks? Imagine big publishers charging business fees just for linking to their content, or news stories disappearing from search engine results and aggregator sites. As we’ve already seen in Spain, the link tax hurts journalists, hinders startups,1 and robs the public of crucial information. It stifles the open Internet in favour of protecting outdated publishing giants’ profits. If enough of us speak out loudly, we will stop the link tax together, but we have to act now. Please donate today to power an in-person petition delivery in Strasbourg next week, spread our message to more people, and support this campaign. https://act.openmedia.org/expression/donate?src=159492 Thanks for everything you do, Ruth, and all of us at OpenMedia P.S. I’ve recently joined the team full-time as our London-based Free Expression campaigner. If we can raise enough to send me to Strasbourg, this will be my first in-person petition delivery! I’m inspired and humbled to be able to represent thousands of you to EU parliamentarians 🙂 Donate now https://act.openmedia.org/expression/donate?src=159492 Footnotes [1] Internet ‚link tax‘ law in Spain ruined this man’s company. Source: Javier Sarda

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Déjà vu: link tax is on the table again

Ruth Coustick-Deal

Dear Sylvia, For over 8 months we’ve been following the EU Commission’s dangerous attempts to impose a new link tax on news content. But today we’re writing about a stunning new development we wanted to make sure you heard: The European Commission have launched a special process to push forward a new, bigger, broader, version of the hyperlinking fee. Your OpenMedia team has a plan to push back, but for it to work we need you to add your voice here right now. https://savethelink.org/eu?src=159444 EU decision-makers and lobbyists are calling it a neighbouring right, a snippet tax, or ancillary copyright. But we know what it is: a tax on linking. If they succeed the link tax could make some of your favourite content virtually disappear from search engines. Let’s stop this idea right here. We’ve seen this bad idea before, but as MEP Julia Reda put it, this is a “broader and badder version” of the previous push for a Link Tax.1 Anti-innovation politicians are also talking about a special YouTube tax2 and still others are pushing the idea of a user fee or a search fee!3 These terrible ideas will restrict freedom of expression and access to information, but they still want to push ahead. Sylvia: Will you speak up now so we can stop these bad ideas from becoming law? https://savethelink.org/eu?src=159444 What’s this all about? European decision-makers are in the process of writing a new copyright law and lobbyists are pushing for something called “ancillary copyright”. If the lobbyists succeed, copyright rules will be extended to links and the text that accompanies them — giving legacy publishers the right to charge fees for linking to content. If this sounds familiar it’s because late last year people like you in the OpenMedia community overwhelmed EU decision-makers4 by flooding their public consultation on the Link Tax proposal. The Internet community has said no,5 European Parliamentarians have said no,6 many publishers themselves have said no.7 Enough is enough already! If we act now we have a chance to put a stop to this idea before it gets out of control: Sign our statement to say NO to the link tax. https://savethelink.org/eu?src=159444 Stand with us, and Save the Link. Ruth, on behalf of your OpenMedia team   Please take the next step by using this survey tool to feed directly into the public record of the EU Commission’s online consultation. A fantastic network of European digital rights experts, including Edri, C4C, and Mozilla have all worked together to create this tool for you. When you’re done please tell everyone you know about this critical campaign now. SHARE  We’re happy to have you as part of the growing pro-Internet community. OpenMedia’s grassroots team will keep you updated on the state of the Internet across the world. Thank you! Ruth Coustick-Deal, on behalf of your OpenMedia team — Footnotes [1] The EU is listening – make your voice heard to prevent copyright from controlling public space and the way we share online. Source: Julia Reda [2] Commission considers ‘YouTube tax’ on streaming services. Source: Politico [3] Fight over ‘Google tax’ brews ahead of autumn copyright proposal. Source: Euractiv [4],[5] 10,000 Internet users demand to be heard. Your move, European Commission. Source: OpenMedia [6] No to ancillary copyright for press publishers, say more than 80 Members of the European Parliament. Source: Julia Reda [7] Ancillary copyright: group of press publishers write letter to the European Commission. Source: IFRRO *** ICH  BIN  LUISE

We are an award-winning network of people and organizations working to safeguard the possibilities of the open Internet. We work toward informed and participatory digital policy. You can follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.