Here's an update on the status of the Article 13. Some new details have surfaced. And it's... even worse than expected.
Basically, we now finally have details on WHICH platforms are affected by this law, and the only platforms EXCLUDED from this law are if they comply to ALL of the following:
1. A startup that has been active for less than three years 2. A Website with an annual turnover below €10 million 3. A website with less than 5 million monthly unique visitors
Please note that this is cumulative. In practice, this just really means that EVERY platform older than 3 years will fall under this new law, which is downright disastrous.
The long story is that while Germany wanted to exclude smaller sites and companies from this law, France wanted every site to fall under this law, which led to a compromise being made, with this as the result. I'm not even sure if any other country had even a say in the matter, but it's clear that both Germany and France are in powerful positions. Moreso than the others.
Now, while an upload filter is the most "logical" answer, I do admit I overlooked one other option... and that's to essentially ban European users. In fact, YouTube has said that if they had to implement such an errorneous filter system, they would cease European users from uploading content.
The only good news is that due to increasing protest and pressure on the MEPs, the countries opposing this law increased from 6 to 11. However, this, unfortunately, is not enough to have a meaningful effect.
As for what's going to happen next, trilogue negotiations will come up in the coming weeks, and the ultimate vote will be held likely somewhere in April or May. That will be our absolute final chance. If the law passes at that point, then we can only hope for a miracle.
As for a small update on the Article 11 law proposal (the link tax), Google experimented with what would happen if they were to comply to such a law, which led to a decrease in traffic to news sites by a massive 45%.
As you're able to tell, if this law were to pass, it would be disastrous.
As the EU elections are coming up soon in March, I would suggest to do research which parties are in favor of this law proposal, and simply refuse to vote on them.
