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EU's Digital Services Act Proposes New Content Removal Rights and RulesErnesto Van der Sar, 15 Dec 07:34 PM For roughly two decades, major EU copyri

EU's Digital Services Act Proposes New Content Removal Rights and Rules Ernesto Van der Sar, 15 Dec 07:34 PM For roughly two decades, major EU copyright rulings have been founded in the E-Commerce Directive. This legislation defines how online services and platforms should handle potentially infringing content if they don't want to be held liable. Today, the EU proposed the Digital Services Act (DSA), which is the official successor to the E-Commerce Directive. The new package aims to bring EU legislation into line with the current state of the digital age, which has changed dramatically over the past several years. The official text (pdf) has just been released and needs to be properly analyzed but there are some early broad conclusions that we can draw. Since we mostly cover copyright issues, we will focus on that angle specifically, but the full proposal has a much greater scope. The DSA will have far-reaching consequences and applies to all platforms and services that can be accessed in the EU. The rules and regulations for each company differ based on their size and what type of service they provide. There is a strong focus on notice and takedowns and the European Commission summarizes the impact of the new obligations as follows: "The Digital Services Act significantly improves the mechanisms for the removal of illegal content and for the effective protection of users' fundamental rights online, including the freedom of speech. "It also creates a stronger public oversight of online platforms, in particular for platforms that reach more than 10% of the EU's population," the Commission adds. The removal of illegal content includes, but is not limited to, material that infringes copyright law. While there have been some discussions about including "harmful" content as well, these proposals were rejected. So what is the definition of illegal content? What is Illegal Content? The DSA proposal has a rather broad definition of illegal that may cause controversy. It specifically includes "information relating to illegal content", as the proposal explains. "In particular, that concept should be understood to refer to information, irrespective of its form, that under the applicable law is either itself illegal […] or that relates to activities that are illegal, such as […] the non-authorized use of copyright protected material…" While we don't expect writing about copyright infringement to be outlawed, people who create specific in-depth tutorials on how to commit copyright infringement (such as how to pirate movies or music, for example) will likely be impacted. No Monitoring Obligation There are also positive notes in the proposal in respect of Internet freedom. For example, the DSA clearly states that there are no monitoring obligations for online services and platforms. In fact, such obligations remain prohibited, as they were in the E-Commerce Directive. "The new Regulation prohibits general monitoring obligations, as they could disproportionately limit users' freedom of expression and freedom to receive information and could burden service providers excessively," the proposal reads. Tackling Abuse Both Sides Regular takedown requests remain an option, as expected. There are no 'staydown' requirements, as some rightsholders previously requested. However, online platforms must respond to abuse. This applies to both senders and recipients. The DSA notes that there is a need to act against repeat offenders who continue to submit illegal content. However, the same applies to persons or rightsholders who continue to send unfounded takedown requests. "[T]here is a need to put in place appropriate and proportionate safeguards against such misuse," the proposal reads, noting that it harms the rights of the parties involved. For this reason, and under the right conditions, these abusers should be suspended. "Under certain conditions, online platforms should temporarily suspend their relevant activities in respect of the person engaged in abusive behavior." Takedown Transparency The DSA proposal also has a strong focus on transparency. For example, if platforms or services work with "trusted flaggers" who have extra rights to remove content, the public has the right to know who these are. Also, if a hosting provider removes content following a takedown notice, users should be informed on what grounds this action was taken, and how he or she can appeal. The DSA clarifies that this transparency is required in light of "the negative consequences that such decisions may have for the recipient, including as regards the exercise of its fundamental right to freedom of expression." Going Forward The issues we highlighted here are just a small selection of the broader proposal, which is available in full here. This also includes obligations for the largest platforms to allow audits of their algorithms and policies. During the coming weeks and months, all proposals will be carefully analyzed by various experts and stakeholders. The same is true for the proposal Digital Markets Act, which was also released today. Needless to say, the DSA proposal will ignite yet another battle between various stakeholders. Copyright holders, for example, are likely to ask for stricter measures and obligations, while digital rights groups and online services will argue in favor of the opposite. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. EU Adds Telegram to 'Piracy Watch List' and Removes Cloudflare Ernesto Van der Sar, 15 Dec 11:44 AM Following the example of the United States, the EU started publishing its very own piracy watchlist two years ago. This 'Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List' is put together by the European Commission. As in the US, it is based on reports from copyright holder groups that report several problematic sites and services for inclusion. For example, those platforms included 'non-EU' targets such as The Pirate Bay, Torrentz2, Rapidgator, Uploaded, Sci-Hub, and H2converter. In addition, some third-party intermediaries such as Cloudflare were called out as well. This week the European Commission released the second edition of the piracy watch list. The overview highlights examples of non-EU based apps, services, websites, and physical marketplaces that facilitate or benefit from counterfeiting and piracy. While the EC doesn't draw any legal conclusions, the watch list is supposed to motivate the operators and foreign governments to take action. In addition, it's also meant as a warning for consumers. "The Watch List aims to encourage the operators of these marketplaces and of the intermediaries providing services to them, as well as local enforcement authorities and governments to take action to stop or prevent intellectual property infringements," the European Commission notes. "It also aims to raise awareness among EU citizens on the environmental, product safety and other risks of purchasing from these potentially problematic markets." The 56-page document sums up a wide range of problematic areas. We will highlight those that apply to online piracy. This includes some familiar names such as The Pirate Bay, Rapidgator, SciHub, and Y2mate as well as some new entries, which are listed per category at the end of the article. The Malware Threat The document relies heavily on input from copyright holders, who increasingly emphasize the threat of malware in an effort to keep people away from pirate sites. While experts don't agree on the gravity of this threat, it is prominently mentioned in the EU piracy watch list. "Piracy also has a negative impact on consumers and the security of their devices and the personal data and other information stored therein. Along with pirated content, infringing websites commonly distribute various kinds of malware and potentially unwanted programs," the report reads. Pirate sites reportedly lure users into downloading these malicious files which use artificial intelligence and psychology to trick their users. "These programs use deceptive techniques and social engineering to trick end-users into disclosing their sensitive information or payment card details. Social engineering has evolved, now equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) tools to further exploit human psychology and gain access to systems and data." EU Adds Social Media A new category in this year's list is social media. While these platforms are not typically aimed towards pirates, they are used to share copyright-infringing content. According to copyright holders, bad actors use social media platforms to distribute pirated content on a broad scale. For this reason, the EU decided to add this as a new category, hoping to motivate the targeted platforms to up their anti-piracy games. "The service providers are not reported as having engaged in unauthorized activities, but are mentioned in this Section for the reason that they are reported to allegedly lag behind in efforts to combat piracy or counterfeiting," the report reads. The list of problematic social media platforms is limited to the Russian Facebook-equivalent VK.com and the messaging application Telegram, which both objected to their inclusion on the list. Telegram, for example, informed the European Commission that it swiftly takes down reported content. This takedown policy is similar to those of many other online service providers. "Telegram claims that they do not tolerate any malicious content on their platform and delete within 24 hours," the EC notes. "For instance, Telegram shut down the 26 channels in Italy following an order issued by AGCOM." VK also detailed its anti-piracy policies but despite these rebuttals, both VK.com and Telegram are listed. Cloudflare Countering the piracy allegations has worked for Cloudflare. In the previous list, the company was prominently highlighted as a problematic service. While Cloudflare didn't change its policies, the Commission changed its opinion. This year several copyright holders again nominated Cloudflare but, despite the ongoing debate about its role in the piracy ecosystem, the EU decided not to include any CDN services. "CDNs might be difficult to categorize, as they usually provide a package of services related to the transmission, delivery and storage of content and relate to various players in the internet ecosystem," the EC writes. Among other things, Cloudflare informed the EU that it shares IP-addresses of pirate sites with trusted notifiers. While the company doesn't disconnect pirate sites, this information should allow copyright holders to go after the hosting services directly. What Now? The European Commission notes that the new watch list will be used for further discussions with all relevant stakeholders, including some of the targeted services and foreign governments. Whether it will have a major impact is doubtful though. The classic pirate sites are not going to be affected much. The Pirate Bay and other sites have been put on watch lists for years and if anything, they could see it as a badge of honor. Legitimate companies could be earlier to sway but, as Cloudflare, VK, and Telegram show, they often have counterarguments. In fact, VK has been listed as a problematic service for nearly a decade on the US watch list despite increased anti-piracy efforts. To some degree, these annual and bi-annual piracy watch lists may serve as inspiration for prospective pirates. But that is another discussion. —- A copy of the European Commission's second Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List is available here (pdf). A list of all the online piracy targets and intermediaries can be found below. Cyberlockers – uptobox.com – rapidgator.net – uploaded.net (ul.to, uploaded.to) – 4shared.com – Wi.to and Ddl.to – dbree.org Stream-Rippers – y2mate.com and youtubeconverter.io – Savefrom.net – Flvto.biz and 2conv.com – Rlsbb.ru Linking or referring websites – Fullhdfilmizlesene.com or .org – Seasonvar.ru – Swatchseries.to – Rezka.ag BitTorrent and P2P Sites – ThePirateBay.org – Rarbg.to – Rutracker.org – 1337x.to Unlicensed download sites – Music-Bazaar.com and Music-Bazaar.mobi – Sci-hub.tw; sci-hub.cc; sci-hub.ac; sci-hub.bz; sci-hub.ren; sci-hub-im; scihub.shop – Libgen.is and mirror sites Piracy Apps – Popcorn Time Hosting providers – Private Layer Unlicensed IPTV services – King365tv.com – VolkaIPTV.com – Electrotv-sat.com Social media – VK.com – Telegram From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. ©2020 TorrentFreak | Office 21338 PO Box 4336 Manchester, North West M61 0BW United Kingdom Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company