Germany Wants To Include Copyright Infringement Under Its Planned ‘Digital Violence’ Law
from the insulting-to-actual-victims-of-violence dept
The hyperbolic rhetoric that is a feature of the copyright industry, which tries absurdly to characterize making an additional digital copy as “theft”, can lead to some serious legislative harm. For example, Germany is currently aiming to bring in a new law against “digital violence” – things like bullying and stalking, but also identity abuse and theft. In the worst cases of digital violence, it may lead to real violence, with lives threatened. That makes legislation to curb it reasonable. But along the way, something unreasonable is happening, spotted here by Netzpolitik (translation by DeepL):
the planned law against digital violence is not only aimed at perpetrators of digital violence. It regulates “all cases of unlawful infringement of absolute rights”. Absolute rights include “other rights”, among others also intangible property rights such as “intellectual property”. This has nothing to do with digital violence.
We asked the Federal Ministry of Justice whether the Digital Violence Act aims to take action against all or only some violations of “absolute rights” and whether this includes intellectual property rights. A spokeswoman confirmed that the information procedure is intended to cover “all cases of unlawful infringement of absolute rights within the meaning of section 823(1) of the German Civil Code”. “This also concerns intangible property rights” such as copyright infringements.
Copyright infringement is in no way comparable to the kind of life-threatening online abuse that the new law against digital violence is designed to tackle. Its inclusion is a by-product of the inflated importance that copyright is too often assigned as a result of industry lobbying. Here, the result is to make an important new law ridiculously broad, and thus less likely to be taken seriously by the public.
Follow me @glynmoody on Mastodon. Originally published to the Walled Culture blog.
Filed Under: copyright, digital violence, germany, moral panics
Comments on “Germany Wants To Include Copyright Infringement Under Its Planned ‘Digital Violence’ Law”
First the VCRs, now the Internet...
Well, at least we can now say that copyright infringement is closer to “the Boston Strangler [targeting] the woman at home alone,” at least within the online space! Jack Valenti would be proud! /s
If you want to convince people that digital violence is a serious issue that ought to be regulated, including “copyright infringement” as a form of digital violence is counterproductive.
Side note: I just imagined Mickey Mouse lying on the ground as though injured, and when Minnie asks what’s wrong, he says, “My… copyright was infringed…”
Absolute rights created by absolute assholes.
Violence in the system
Nothing says violence like a download.
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Actually read the fucking texts you massive tools!
Overall: You shit and cry because the law is titled “something something ~violence~”.
And everything would be totally fine, when the law would be titled just “digital rights/protections” or something else. Is that all? That is your whole argument. “Nooo don’t title my copyright violations violence.” Cry cry cry
“That is disrespectful to actual victims of meany words, which is real and actual violence! This law SHOULD have give the ability to monitor private chats for VIOLENT meany-words! ” Very weak “argument” here.
“I do not like that that you are saying that me, making unlicensed digital COPIES, is a COPY-right violation” – Amazing.
Maybe bring something better than shitty attempts at word games.
In the whole official documents about how or why the law should or would be build, the explanation is that somebody who is being actually threatened online, is LESS protected than somebody who’s IP rights are being violated. So somebody being actually threatened should be as protect as somebody who’s IP rights are being violated. Just READ! And that tools already implemented into EU wide laws could or should be used to handle online “violence”.
Here, a nice quote to end this all:
“Das Gesetz gegen digitale Gewalt ist kein Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Durchsetzung des Urheberrechts.”
https://www.bmj.de/SharedDocs/Gesetzgebungsverfahren/Dokumente/Digitale_Gewalt_Kurzpapier_Eckpunkte.pdf
Calm the fuck down and read something yourself, don’t have your “AI” do that for you. Holy shit. Wipe away the tears, is will help you read.
Re:
As someone who has SEEN actual “digital violence” firsthand, thinking that downloading a car or your inability to not feed the copyright maximalist position is comparable to the mass coordinated harassment campaigns conducted by shitty human beings and belligerent nationstates, doxxing and whatnot is not only laughable, but also offensive.
One leads to people getting stabbed, shot, whatever, while the other does not.
Re: Oh no.
Oh dear. What a mess. I really do recommend not using the keyboard whilst indulging.
Of course, this leaves out how many copyright holders want infringers shot on sight.
Re:
Let us not forget about Sen Hatch
Senator Endorses Destroying Computers Of Downloaders
https://www.techdirt.com/2003/06/17/senator-endorses-destroying-computers-of-downloaders/
Copyright law is completely corrupted by bribery
Thirty years ago my average monthly purchases were 10+ books, 25 CDs, and 5 DVDs. Once I began to realize how corrupt copyright law is, I halted all purchases of IP related content. Copyright law is completely corrupted by bribery and completely broken. Thus, I choose to ignore it and I am proud to write that since my epiphany twenty years ago, I have purchased zero copyrighted content.
So this article is a bit disturbing because I always looked at Germany as an rational society and an advanced liberal Democracy; something that America should aspire to become – a legitimate Democracy. I’ve stopped keeping track of her since Angela left, but let’s hope that this completely corrupt law goes the same path as TPP went. I am hopeful that Germany sides on the side of rationality and extracts this mania from these proposed laws- in the same way that America has been able to keep friendly sharing of content out of the criminal system. Because remember that cute law the George Bush Admin (the dumb Bush not the dead one) tried to expand around 2002? Attempted to have friendly copyright infringement equated to terrorism and prosecute a kid for downloading- declared him a terrorist because he was “hurting” the US economy by not buying. And of course, the corporate written TPP which called for changing the metadata in an mp3 file a criminal offense resulting in prison time? Yes, it is amazing that America can still be rational and thanks to real judges, and has been able to avoid the over the zealous political puppets remote controlled by RIAA.
I am sure the MPA/ACE/RIAA/et al are clueless why “enlightened” consumers download instead of purchasing their DRM protected content. Regardless of what the future of corrupted laws holds, these corrupters shall never extract another single penny from my purse, this is a certainty.
Piracy is theft, not violence. The digital media is not the value, it’s the content. It’s also more like an ASCAP violation than selling a pirated copy.
Downloading copyrighted material should have damages restricted to treble the value of the product, at most. Enough to deter it but not ruin anyone’s life for a very minor offense.