The New Dark Age

24 August 2016 — OpenMedia

This is unreal. Yesterday, we asked you to tell the EU Commission to abandon plans for the link tax by sharing hard-hitting social media images.^[1]

Thanks to you, later the same day, the EU Commission responded to our campaign on Twitter, saying “The @EU_Commission does not have any plans to tax hyperlinks.”^[2] But here’s the problem: they’ve rebranded the link tax from ‘ancillary rights’ to so-called ‘neighbouring rights’.

They’re feeling the pressure, but why should we believe them?^[3] They’ve tried to disguise the link tax before,^[4]  and they’re not gonna slip it passed us this time either.

Please hold EU decision-makers accountable. Share this new image on Facebook and Twitter demanding the EU Commission reject the link tax in any form while we’ve got them sweating.

Share on Facebook | Share on Twitter

Any proposal that gives publishers new powers to charge a fee for using snippets of text in links online cannot be allowed in the EU.^{[5] [6]} Speak out now.

We need to hold their feet to the fire, and make sure they don’t dare try to pull a fast one on us.

This could be our victory moment. We can do this!  

-Ruth, on behalf of OpenMedia.

Footnotes

[1] Become a link tax mythbuster. Source: OpenMedia

[2] “ The @EU_Commission does not have any plans to tax hyperlinks.” Source: Digital Single Market Twitter account.

[3] Taking a bad idea and making it worse: An ancillary copyright in snippets disguised as a neighbouring right for publishers. Source: OpenForumEurope

[4] Beware: The “neighbouring right for publishers” is an ancillary copyright on steroids! Source: IGEL

[5] ECO warns against the introduction of an ancillary copyright at European level. Source: Association of Internet Industry, ECO

[6] Additional rights for publishers will hurt education and access to culture. Source: Communia.