3 ms·

Is there a simple, objective summary of the proposed rules? Everything I've seen is propaganda trying to convince me they're the end of the internet, which mak

by kd5bjo 8y ago

Is there a simple, objective summary of the proposed rules? Everything I've seen is propaganda trying to convince me they're the end of the internet, which makes me quite wary of the authors' motivations.

pjc50 8y ago
You can read the directive itself: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52016PC0593 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CEL...
- kd5bjo 8y ago
  Yes, but with all the cross-references and legalese specifying which level of government is responsible for enforcing each piece of the directive, the actual regulations can be hard to extract for an untrained reader. Hence my request for an objective summary.
  - pjc50 8y ago
    > which level of government is responsible for enforcing each piece of the directive At least that's an easy question to answer: the member states. A directive obliges member states to introduce local legislation to achieve a particular effect. Usually it's transcribed pretty closely, but some states may use their sovereignty to impose additional restrictions (if they're not precluded by the Directive, a different directive, or human rights law). Generally if you want to speed up reading a Directive you can skip all the "Whereas" clauses, they're not binding but do specify the reasoning behind the directive.
    - kd5bjo 8y ago
      And the real meaning of stuff like [1.11.3]? It's got to be there, or else the law is underspecified, but it doesn't make for effective lay communication. I still think a real summary would be useful for all the people that don't have your personal guidance about how to decode legislation. [1.11.3] Articles 5 to 8 of Directive 2001/29/EC and Directive 2012/28/EU shall apply mutatis mutandis in respect of the rights referred to in paragraph 1.
  - ddebernardy 8y ago
    Just ignore that part, which is procedure, and head straight to the meat of the directive. The controversial article (13) in the EU directive is exactly three paragraphs long. Quoting the article's title and first paragraph in full: > Use of protected content by information society service providers storing and giving access to large amounts of works and other subject-matter uploaded by their users > 1. Information society service providers that store and provide to the public access to large amounts of works or other subject-matter uploaded by their users shall, in cooperation with rightholders, take measures to ensure the functioning of agreements concluded with rightholders for the use of their works or other subject-matter or to prevent the availability on their services of works or other subject-matter identified by rightholders through the cooperation with the service providers. Those measures, such as the use of effective content recognition technologies, shall be appropriate and proportionate. The service providers shall provide rightholders with adequate information on the functioning and the deployment of the measures, as well as, when relevant, adequate reporting on the recognition and use of the works and other subject-matter. As you can see, there might be room to argue that one could remove a word here or there, or perhaps to avoid a euphemism or two, but to me it seems like it's about as plain text as legalese can be. As an aside, and in stark contrast with what a lot of the UK press would have you believe, EU texts tend to be very human readable; particularly when you compare it to texts produced by other legislative bodies. To illustrate, compare the EU directive in question: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52016PC0593 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CEL... To e.g. the US' CLOUD act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4943/text https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4943... Or e.g. the UK's Copyright, Designs and Patents act: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/pdfs/ukpga_19880048_en.pdf http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/pdfs/ukpga_19880...

by kd5bjo 8y ago

pjc50 8y ago

You can read the directive itself: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52016PC0593 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CEL...

kd5bjo 8y ago
Yes, but with all the cross-references and legalese specifying which level of government is responsible for enforcing each piece of the directive, the actual regulations can be hard to extract for an untrained reader. Hence my request for an objective summary.
- pjc50 8y ago
  > which level of government is responsible for enforcing each piece of the directive At least that's an easy question to answer: the member states. A directive obliges member states to introduce local legislation to achieve a particular effect. Usually it's transcribed pretty closely, but some states may use their sovereignty to impose additional restrictions (if they're not precluded by the Directive, a different directive, or human rights law). Generally if you want to speed up reading a Directive you can skip all the "Whereas" clauses, they're not binding but do specify the reasoning behind the directive.
  - kd5bjo 8y ago
    And the real meaning of stuff like [1.11.3]? It's got to be there, or else the law is underspecified, but it doesn't make for effective lay communication. I still think a real summary would be useful for all the people that don't have your personal guidance about how to decode legislation. [1.11.3] Articles 5 to 8 of Directive 2001/29/EC and Directive 2012/28/EU shall apply mutatis mutandis in respect of the rights referred to in paragraph 1.
- ddebernardy 8y ago
  Just ignore that part, which is procedure, and head straight to the meat of the directive. The controversial article (13) in the EU directive is exactly three paragraphs long. Quoting the article's title and first paragraph in full: > Use of protected content by information society service providers storing and giving access to large amounts of works and other subject-matter uploaded by their users > 1. Information society service providers that store and provide to the public access to large amounts of works or other subject-matter uploaded by their users shall, in cooperation with rightholders, take measures to ensure the functioning of agreements concluded with rightholders for the use of their works or other subject-matter or to prevent the availability on their services of works or other subject-matter identified by rightholders through the cooperation with the service providers. Those measures, such as the use of effective content recognition technologies, shall be appropriate and proportionate. The service providers shall provide rightholders with adequate information on the functioning and the deployment of the measures, as well as, when relevant, adequate reporting on the recognition and use of the works and other subject-matter. As you can see, there might be room to argue that one could remove a word here or there, or perhaps to avoid a euphemism or two, but to me it seems like it's about as plain text as legalese can be. As an aside, and in stark contrast with what a lot of the UK press would have you believe, EU texts tend to be very human readable; particularly when you compare it to texts produced by other legislative bodies. To illustrate, compare the EU directive in question: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52016PC0593 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CEL... To e.g. the US' CLOUD act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4943/text https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4943... Or e.g. the UK's Copyright, Designs and Patents act: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/pdfs/ukpga_19880048_en.pdf http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/pdfs/ukpga_19880...