Are we too hot to be bothered? Or can’t we be bothered while the footie is on? Is Free Speech not something worth fighting for?

Once our Freedom of Speech is gone it is gone! Heatwaves come every few years, the next World Cup will take place in four years, Wimbledon is every year – but once we let them take away our Freedom of speech it will be gone, perhaps even irretrievably.

Perhaps we think that, with Brexit in one form or another coming closer, we don’t need to worry – surely this new, insane EU Directive about copyright which is called the Internet Killer won’t affect us? Not so!

Just as the GDPR Directive affected us all, and just as we learned in passing that our dear government has signed us up to keep this even after whichever Brexit (if it ever comes), so this new Directive will affect us equally, Brexit or not.

We’ve reported on it a week ago (see here) and as time runs out, we appeal again to all of you to send emails to your MEPs. The aim is to stop the juggernaut and enforce an open debate in the EU Parliament. If that doesn’t happen, the thing will simply be nodded through in good old EU fashion. No debate. Recall Juncker’s words:

“We decide on something, leave it lying around, and wait and see what happens. If no one kicks up a fuss, because most people don’t understand what has been decided, we continue step by step until there is no turning back.”

That’s where we are now. This Internet directive has been lying around (introduced by Germany, btw). for a bit. Unelected bureaucrats and Commissioners have been working on it. It was voted for in the ‘JURI’ committee. All perfectly reasonable, no-one was bothered (why should they!) – and now all it needs is for the EU Parliament to give it the nod and that’s that.

It will come as no surprise that the Media Big Businesses, from international print media to music industry giants, think this is a marvellous idea, and will ‘help’ pay their hordes of creative ants, word for word or note for note.

It will come as no surprise that our own media have been only lukewarm in reporting – after all, memes, youtube videos, music videos by independents, independent websites and blogs written, produced and published by irksome individuals not kow-towing to the governing opinions and even earning money from their works: that can’t be allowed! On top of which, they helped Trump to win and/or are in collusion with Putin, aren’t they … so: get rid!

But this concerns all of us, regardless of being politically of the ‘left’ or ‘right’. This quote says it all:

“You don’t have to be on the right or the left to decry this directive: the primary community it will affect doesn’t have lobbyists in Brussels. They’re just ordinary Internet and digital technology users and creators. Europe’s lawmakers need to understand that the details of digital copyright are more than just a deal to be brokered between commercial giants — they’re a matter of free expression, privacy, and human rights. That’s why the United Nation’s human rights experts oppose these articles; why Wikipedia and Creative Commons are fighting it; why the Internet’s pioneering technologists and creators told the EU to think again. And that’s why your MEP needs to hear from you.”

Read the whole thing here: “The Crucial Next Few Days In the EU’s Copyright Filter and Link Tax Battle”

While the EU juggernaut is moving forward, most people don’t even know what this is about or why they should be bothered. Cynics like myself point out that it surely cannot be a coincidence that this Directive is seeing the light of day during the footie World Cup. After all, the timetable for this event didn’t suddenly fall from the sky two weeks ago – and everybody knows that governments do like to press through legislation on the sly or hide ‘bad news’ while the nation or in this case the EU nations, are glued to their TVs or celebrate outdoors.

You recall that four famous ‘Internet Warriors’ joined UKIP last month, accompanied by the concerns and even resistance of some Kippers. Let’s remind them that UKIP stands for Free Speech. So this is our battle. Why this battle must be fought and how this can be done is shown perfectly by Carl Benjamin, i.e. ‘Sargon of Akkad’, in his video ofJune 29th:

 

Starting at about 8:15, Sargon explains forcefully why UKIP is vital and what Gerard asks us to do in this fight for Free Speech. This is precisely why so many of us were jubilant when he and Paul Joseph Watson joined. Here is the latest video from Paul Joseph Watson laying out why he joined UKIP – do watch if you still think this was a stunt, or if you need firing up!

This is how to reach those our Party website (no sniggering on the backbenches!) cannot reach. This is how to ‘do’ a campaign on the internet while we still have it. So get your email provider fired up and go for it!

We have until the 5th to put a spoke – a tiny one, but even so – into the EU juggernaut’s wheels. To email your MEP, Red, Green or Blue, go here:

https://saveyourinternet.eu/

You will find text proposals/sample emails on that site.

Do it!

 

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