Comment by dtx1 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dtx1 | Hacker News Reader

What could we have down about? Protests were ignored, lies were spread about (the CDU, germans leading conservative party) promised on their Websites "NO UPLOAD FILTERS", ironically, their party in the EU were the ones pushing the laws requiring upload filters. Now, the filters are sold as a "reasonable compromise". They ignored all experts, civil rights institutions, they managed to remove even the tiniest language that might allow for "fair use". In essence, it has been decided that copyright is a higher good than civil freedoms. And why wouldn't they? The lobbyists fill their pockets for it and their reliable boomer voterbase doesn't even want to understand it because it's "the internet" and they'd prefer not having it in the first place.

I really don't know what to do about it anymore. Sure, I can work around all this. I wouldn't be bothered by a censored internet either, mostly because i had the opportunity to learn how to route around it while that information wasn't censored yet. But it doesn't have to work for everyone, it's enough that it works for the 90% of people who didn't care and can't do any better.

This is frustrating to me and i honestly don't know what to do about this anymore. "I have nothing to hide" has become the only response i get from older people whom i try to explain why they are being abused and tracked without their knowledge. Why the ever extending reach of the state into their private lives and the ever increasing scope of surveillance and control is a really bad Idea if you want civil liberties to prevail. They. do. not. care.

I don't know what i can do to stop this anymore...

May be we should address the core of the issue.

The main thing about copyright to understand would be:

Is there such ‘right’ at all?

Is it a ‘right’ if you think about it?

>I don’t know what I can do to stop this anymore ...

This level of frustration people has experienced in Ukraine during Maidan protests. Turned out that ‘peoaceful’ protest is effective only if the other side is smart enough and wish to listen. But if the other side is dumb enough and considers ‘peaceful’ protest as a ‘green light’ to do whatever they want (Look for beating peaceful people in Belarus recently and now in Russia) then it looks like ‘Maidan’ techniques are more effective. So for example you can look and learn how Ukrainians stood for their rights against power abuse and attempts of pushing dictatorship laws through the parliament.

yeah no. The people understanding this enough to beware of how bad it is, are the absolute minority and we would be crushed by the applauding majority if we tried.

The main thing about freedom and rights is that majority doesn’t have a right to take those from a person.

I like to use this example: Can someone be eaten by the others if they vote for it?

In such case I think it is clear what a person in question should do to protect his ‘right for life’

‘Majority dictatorship’ is not my expectation of how modern democracy should function.

> The main thing about freedom and rights is that majority doesn’t have a right to take those from a person.

I don't disagree from a philosophical perspective, I disagree from a practical one. Majority dictatorship is only avoided in modern democracies through two processes: existing constitutional laws that are enforced and protected by a court system and the majority will to not oppress people just because they can.

If something like the internet is new enough that neither existing laws protect you, nor a majority exists with enough care and understanding about the issue to create new protections, governments will inevitably censor, silence and enslave the minority that yearns for that freedom. If the majority doesn't care, the powers that be have always and will always use excessive force and laws to suppress the minority, see Marijuana, Gay Marriage, Women's rights, Police Reform etc.

I see a dark time for the internet ahead of us. It will take time for generations of people who refuse to understand what the internet is to die of, before new generations can learn from the failures of the previous generation and enshrine new protections into law. As long as people decide on these issues, that see the internet as a nuisance to be dealt with and not a whole world to explore and enrich your life with, there won't be any progress made toward a liberal, free internet and ever much more towards a more fascist control of the internet.

Philosophical perspective requires practical insisting. All legal tools are available to insist including constitutions and court systems like with any other issue. There are many means to make majority care. I do not see why waiting for generations is inevitable and we all know what can happen to fascists.

Same story as with Article 17 back then. Remember how the deputies in the EU parliament claimed they "accidentally pressed the wrong button"?

The part about pushing this through under the radar is particularly frustrating. At least we are getting daily news about coronavirus and antisemitism.

just to be clear though, this is the german implementation of the dreaded Article 17 that a german CDU Minidter for the EU created.

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