Hacker News Reader

Comment by word-reader | Hacker News Reader

It looks like something similar is going to be legally required in the EU [1]. For encrypted chat apps like WhatsApp, the content filtering database can simply be baked into the client application [2].

[1] https://torrentfreak.com/eu-members-approve-upload-filters-f...

[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-01-25/how-to...

View on HN

Er.... no. That's not what was passed by the EU.

The Copyright Directive is targeted at large "online content-sharing services" - in effect, services like YouTube, not messaging apps - and says that they are liable for what they host. This means that (1) they need to seek a license for any copyrighted content and (2) if they can't do that, find out a way to stop the copyrighted content from appearing.

Plus, member states are now in a two year period to get all this stuff into national law. So nothing is required right now, and chat apps are firmly and completely off limits for this legislation.

This isn't the same thing as the copyright directive. There is some ambiguity in the proposal about whether they would have to filter things that are shared privately (as opposed to posted publicly). But it repeatedly uses phrases like "uploaded to the service" which implies that things like Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, and so on would be covered.

I'm really hoping it gets watered down by the European Court of Justice, but that would take a long time.

I'm not sure e2e-encrypted applications can be reasonably expected to handle this. The bytes they are transmitting are effectively not copywritten, and cannot be deciphered into copywritten information without something which the company does not have. I could also see a huge increase in client-side processing requirements due to this, meaning this could translate to substantial financial loss and an undue burden.

> The bytes they are transmitting are effectively not copywritten

Eh, that's too limited a definition of copyright. Technical implementation doesn't really matter to the law; only whether or not you are in fact transmitting copyrighted information. That is decidedly the case: the author is knowingly sending a certain piece of content, which the receiver can then access.

Here's a great article on it: https://ansuz.sooke.bc.ca/entry/23

On the contrary, client-side processing means it is burning the battery in users' devices, not consuming any cloud resources. It could very well be cheaper for the companies to implement.

If it is running on my device, software can be cracked. This will prove fun.

That some technically proficient people will find ways around it is beyond doubt, however it may prove to be an effective system for information control despite that, if the common user finds it difficult to circumvent.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com