Why am I rejecting this copyright reform?
An adaptation of laws to modern digital culture is a good thing, but Article 17 is a dangerous package of laws, of which politicians can not foresee the consequences. Furthermore the requirements are not stated in a clear enough way. Formulations like “among others” or “The application of this Article shall not lead to any general monitoring obligation” are not suitable for a legal text, just like the arrangement to talk about actions after the laws entered force. For those reasons I can not support the proposal for a copyright reform as it is. Of course Article 17 is no direct order to make the internet less free, but a consequence may be, that exactly this will happen, even if politicians did not intend this.
The wish to give European states more control over big companies from the USA is understandable. I do not want to protect any company, since I am concerned aswell about the dominant position of a few. However I realize, that companies are inspecting laws very carefully and interpret them to their advantage. This is why additional concerns about upload filters are reasonable, because it is conceivable, that those filters are not only used for protection of the copyright, but also for other interests of the companies or the nations they reside in.
So what is left to do? I appeal to every involved person to deal with the facts intensively. For the many protesters I have the advice to deal with the proposal itself and to question the opinions you hear. Build up your own opinion, because you can only strengthen you position by reflected facts.
To the members of the European Parliament I send the following invitation: Think about the consequences of your actions. See the diverse digital culture and take it seriously. This debate and the poll on March 26th will have unnegligible effects on the European elections and the future. And if the reform is accepted I am sure, that unforeseen consequences will arise that affect us all