German Wikipedia Blocked to Protest Against §13 (Copyright Directive)

9 points by chupa-chups 5 years ago

Translated from German:

THIS IS OUR LAST CHANCE. HELP US TO MODERNIZE COPYRIGHT IN EUROPE.

Dear visitor,

why can not you use wikipedia as usual? The authors of Wikipedia have decided to turn off Wikipedia today in protest against parts of the planned EU copyright reform. This law is due to be passed by the European Parliament on 27th March.

The proposed reform could severely restrict the free Internet. Even the smallest internet platforms would have to preemptively prevent copyright infringement of their users (Article 13 of the planned law), which in practice would only be possible by means of error-prone and abuse-prone upload filters. In addition, all web pages for short text extracts from press products would have to acquire licenses in order to comply with a new publisher right (Article 11). Both together could significantly affect the freedom of opinion, art and the press.

Although at least Wikipedia is explicitly exempt from Article 13 of the new Copyright Directive (but not Article 11), Free Knowledge will suffer even if Wikipedia remains an oasis in the filtered desert of the Internet.

Around five million people protest in a petition, 145 civil rights and human rights organizations, business and IT associations (including Bitkom, the German start-up association or the Chaos Computer Club), Internet against the reform in its current version Pioneers such as Tim Berners-Lee, journalists' associations and creatives.

We therefore request that you contact the Members of the European Parliament and inform them of your position on the planned reform.

Thank you. CONTACT YOUR DEPUTY

The above-referenced Members' Search Service of the European Parliament is not operated by the Wikimedia Foundation; Your use of the website is subject to the local conditions of use.