We’re working with the Save the Link network to push back against proposals in the EU for a broad new hyperlinking fee that will affect us all.
If the European Commission succeed copyright rules will be extended to the little snippets of text that automatically accompany hyperlinks - giving big publishers the right to charge business fees for linking to content. The link tax stifles innovation for new online services (think: the next Reddit or Twitter) – and ensures the dominance of entrenched players.
Only the biggest search engines and media groups will have the power to negotiate these new licenses. Smaller companies will lose out - unable to afford new hyperlinking fees, or finding businesses refusing to pay for link to them.
Plus, with new mandatory censorship machines websites which upload content will have to build expensive programs to spy for copyright infringement. These bots won’t be able to understand legal and fair uses of content. Imagine videos, website posts and art deleted as soon as they are uploaded because of a biased algorithm.
If we act now we have a chance to put a stop to this idea before it gets out of control: Email your MEP to tell them to stand against the link tax.