In other words, those proposals will make it hard to spread news or even to post memes.

Due to the nature of Wikipedia and its reliance on community contributors, both Articles could have a huge effect on the website. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has been a vocal critic of the Directive and has been encouraging people to call their European representatives ahead of the final vote tomorrow, July 5th, 10AM UCT. Legislators tried to add an exemption for encyclopedias after the initial wave of criticisms, but due to what the EFF calls "sloppy drafting," it still puts platforms like Wikipedia at risk. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation explained: the exemption is limited to "noncommercial activity," but every file on Wikipedia is licensed for commercial use.

The Italian and Spanish Wikipedia pages are echoing Wales' plea for people to call their European representatives. They're also linking to websites dedicated to fighting the Directive and are asking the Parliament to reject it in its current form. Here is a rough translation of the notice on Italian Wikipedia's home page from Google Translate:

On 5 July 2018 the European Parliament will decide whether to speed up the approval of the copyright directive. This directive, if promulgated, will significantly limit the freedom of the Internet. Instead of updating the copyright laws in Europe to promote everyone's participation in the information society, it threatens online freedom and creates barriers to accessing the Net by imposing new barriers, filters and restrictions. If the proposal is approved, it may be impossible to share a newspaper article on social networks or find it on a search engine. Wikipedia itself would risk to close. The proposal has already met with the firm disapproval of over 70 computer scientists, including web creator Tim Berners-Lee, 169 academics, 145 organizations working in the fields of human rights, freedom of the press, scientific research and the computer industry and the Wikimedia Foundation. For these reasons, the Italian Wikipedia community has decided to obscure all encyclopedia pages. We want to continue to offer a free, open, collaborative encyclopedia with verifiable content. We therefore ask all Members of the European Parliament to reject the current text of the directive and to reopen the debate by examining the many proposals of the Wikimedia associations, starting with the abolition of Articles 11 and 13, as well as the extension of the freedom of panorama to the whole EU and the protection of the public domain.</s>Attempting to access any page on the Italian-language Wikipedia directed users to a statement on the EU's Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, a package of proposed reforms that would extend the rights of publishers to claim copyright fees on even short extracts of material reproduced online – for instance, snippets of news articles that appear under search results.

It would also oblige online platforms to scan all content that users try to upload – to YouTube, for example – and automatically block anything that risks infringing copyright.

The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia, has joined freedom-of-internet activists in opposing the directive, which is to be put to a vote in the EU Parliament this week.

"If the proposal were approved, it could become impossible to share a newspaper article on social networks or find it via a search engine," Wikipedia Italy's statement said.

"Wikipedia itself could be forced to shut down."





The Italian Wikipedia community has decided to black out its content in protest, the statement said. The blackout applies to all Wikipedia pages in Italian, whether accessed from Italy or abroad.

It's not clear when the protest, which began on Tuesday morning, will end. MEPs are expected to vote on the proposed directive on Thursday, July 5th.

The Wikimedia Foundation is urging EU residents to contact their representative before then and ask them to vote against the reforms, as several MEPs have already pledged to do.

In the meantime, Wikipedia users in Italy can continue to access the encyclopedia in any language other than Italian, though they'll see a banner alerting them to this week's vote on the directive at the top of every page. One reader also told The Local that Italian-language content remains visible via the Wikipedia app.

READ ALSO: Facebook loses copyright appeal against Milan startup



Photo: Loic Venance/AFP

</s>Wikipedia in Italy and Spain blocked all articles in protest of the recent EU vote to implement certain changes to copyright laws within the bloc.

Last month’s vote on a controversial set of proposals to change copyright law in the EU left many stunned following a victory for those who want the alterations to be made.

Yesterday (3 July), both the Spanish-language and Italian Wikipedia sites blocked readers from viewing entries in protest over the danger the new laws would present to Wikipedia and other websites.

The European Committee on Legal Affairs voted in favour of adopting the EU Copyright Directive – the first update to European copyright legislation since 2001. The EU parliamentary vote is due to take place on 5 July.

Issues within the bill centred around Articles 11 and 13, and included the requirement for websites to implement a content filtering system to prevent the use of copyrighted works on the platform, and a so-called ‘link tax’.

Wikipedia could be at risk

The editors of Italian Wikipedia warned that the site would be in danger.

The statement read: “On July 5, 2018, the Plenary of the European Parliament will vote whether to proceed with a copyright directive proposal, which, if approved, will significantly harm the openness of the internet.

“The directive, instead of updating the copyright laws in Europe and promoting the participation of all the citizens to the society of information, threatens online freedom and creates obstacles to accessing the web, imposing new barriers, filters and restrictions.

“If the proposal would be approved in its current form, it could be impossible to share a news article on social networks, or find it through a search engine; Wikipedia itself would be at risk.”

English-language readers of Wikipedia were not cut off from reading articles; instead, a large banner advert with calls to action is visible at the top of the homepage.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales responded to a tweet from the European Commission:

When asked why all the Wikipedia sites did not go dark, Wales explained that the communities in each territory make such decisions separately.

Legislators at the EU tried to create an exception in Article 13 for platforms such as Wikipedia, but the vague wording of the exception and the article in general saw the EFF outline the difficulties Wikipedia would still encounter under the projected rules. “And, since every member state will get to make its own rules for quotation and linking, Wikipedia posts will have to satisfy a patchwork of contradictory rules, some of which are already so severe that they’d ban any items in a ‘Further Reading’ list unless the article directly referenced or criticised them.

Activist Corey Doctorow wrote: “Articles 13 and 11 are poorly thought through, poorly drafted, unworkable and dangerous. The collateral damage they will impose on every realm of public life can’t be overstated.”

Communications director at NordVPN, Ruby Gonzalez, said: “AI filters that all websites will have to implement are very bad at detecting the nuanced difference between plagiarism and the concept of fair use, satire or derivative works.

“If this directive passes, we may lose the ability to share an article on Facebook or find it via Google. In fact, Wikipedia might have to close down.”

Proponents of the changes, including German MEP Axel Voss, explained that the alterations in Article 13 could correct “an extreme imbalance” in the copyright system. The aim with Article 11 is to drive traffic to the homepage of news sites, but critics say the wording is also too vague.</s>Rome, July 3 - The shutdown of the Italian version of Wikipedia in protest at the new European Union copyright directive will probably run until Thursday, a spokesperson for the group that runs the online encyclopedia said Tuesday. "My impression is that the protest will last until Thursday. Any longer would make no sense," Maurizio Codogno, the spokesperson of Wikimedia Italia, told ANSA. Wikipedia Italia has said the directive, which, among other things, proposes giving publishers the ability to request payment for the use of short bits of text, threatens the freedom of the Internet and could force it to close. Labour and Industry Minister and Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio, the leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), has said he is against the directive. "We welcomed the support of the government," said Codogno. "We hope that the M5S MEPs are in line with Di Maio (when the directive is voted on in the European Parliament on July 5)". The European Parliament said in a statement that Wikipedia and other online encyclopedias were "automatically excluded from the requirements imposed by the new EU copyright rules". Codogno replied that Wikipedia "did not take action just to save itself but also to defend the free Web" and "preserve the Web as an space that is open to less visible realities". European Newspapers Publishers Association ENPA is in favour of the directive, saying the massive reuse of journalistic material is threatening the free press and the future of journalism. "(Wikipedia's position) goes well beyond copyright and reflects a deeper debate that does not just cover press freedom, but the functioning of our democracies too," said ENPA President Carlo Perrone. "This is not just threatened by the economic sustainability of the press, but also by unacceptable, misleading campaigns by platforms to influence MEPs".</s>The Italian version of Wikipedia will be shut down for two days, a spokesman confirmed on Tuesday. The move came as a protest of a planned new European Union copyright directive that would implement new rules about licenses for content and, according to critics, places a heavy burden on IT companies to police what users upload.

"Freedom of internet at risk," reads the message now posted on the site.

Deputy prime minister and leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), Luigi Di Maio, said he wholeheartedly supported the protest.

"We welcomed the support of the government," Maurizio Codogno, a spokesman for Wikipedia Italia, was quoted by Italian news agency ANSA as saying.

"We hope that the M5S members of the European Parliament are in line with Di Maio (when the directive is voted on in the European Parliament on July 5)."

Although the EU parliament has said that Wikipedia was excluded from the law as an encyclopedia, the company said its protest was in solidarity with others who would be affected.

Wikipedia "did not take action just to save itself but also to defend the free Web" and to "preserve the Web as a space that is open to less visible realities," Codogno said.

The online information hub was joined by 70 computer scientists, including creator of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee, 169 academics and 145 human rights, press freedom, and scientific research organizations in a letter of condemnation of the proposed law.

Carlo Perrone, who heads the European Newspapers Publishers Association (ENPA), accused Wikipedia of tunnel vision, ignoring the negative effects of stealing content on journalistic integrity.

"(Wikipedia's position) goes well beyond copyright and reflects a deeper debate that does not just cover press freedom, but the functioning of our democracies too," Perrone said.

"This is not just threatened by the economic sustainability of the press, but also by unacceptable, misleading campaigns by platforms to influence the European Parliament."

According to Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, a spokesmen for the European Commissions office for the digital single market said that the law was necessary to combat the "large amounts of copyrighted content that have been uploaded by users who do not own the rights."

Both Wikipedia Italia and IT experts have argued that the law not only poses a threat to creative freedom, but that it also has not been debated long enough for the less tech-savvy parliamentarians to understand what they're voting on.

Wikipedia will be dark in Italy until Thursday, the day the proposed bill is set to be voted on in Brussels.</s>Wikipedia went down in at least three countries Wednesday in a protest at an upcoming European Parliament vote on a highly disputed law that could make online platforms legally liable for copyrighted material put on the web by users.

In Spain, Italy and Poland, an explanatory protest statement about the upcoming vote came up when the online encyclopedia was consulted.

"The directive would threaten online freedom and would impose new filters, barriers and restrictions to access the web," Wikipedia Spain said in its statement.

"If the proposal was approved in its actual version, actions like sharing news on social networks or accessing news via a search engine would be more complicated on the Internet."

It added that Wikipedia would be "at risk" and asked users to phone their MEPs.

The overhaul of European copyright law is divided into several sections, one of which is the reform criticised by Wikipedia and others who have warned it will lead to blanket censorship by tech giants.

Another reform would force online platforms such as Google and Facebook to pay for links to news content, which news agencies including AFP have hailed as a "major step".

The European Commission has replied saying that "Wikipedia and other online encyclopaedias would not fall within the scope of the Commission's Copyright proposal."

But Wikipedia chief Jimmy Wales and Greens MEP Julia Reda, a leading campaigner on the issue, insist that it will.

Thursday's parliament vote is not final, but only sets out the negotiating position of MEPs.

There then follow negotiations with member states for a final position, during which the full extent of the law and whether it does apply to Wikipedia will be worked out.

Austria, which has just assumed the EU's six-month rotating presidency, has said this will be difficult, so there will have to be some sort of compromise.</s>Italian Wikipedia Blacks Out in Protest of EU’s New Copyright Directive, NordVPN comments on EU’s Copyright Directive

EU lawmakers are planning to pass an obscure Copyright Directive that might have a massive impact on how Europeans use the internet. There are many objections against the directive, including Italian Wikipedia’s that blacked out on Tuesday in protest. The online encyclopedia says the Copyright Directive will severely restrict internet freedom.

The Copyright Directive claims to protect intellectual property and includes regulating the illegal streaming and downloading of pirated movies and music.

“The general intention of the directive is well meaning. However, the vague wording of the law means that it may be applied to an extremely broad range of cases,” said Ruby Gonzales, Communications Director at NordVPN. “For instance, the Copyright Directive may extend the rights of publishers to charge for the snippets of news articles that appear under search results. It is also going to force websites to scan all content being uploaded – to YouTube and elsewhere – and automatically block anything that might infringe copyright.”

AI filters that all websites will have to implement are very bad at detecting the nuanced difference between plagiarism and the concept of fair use, satire, or derivative works.

"If this Directive passes, we may lose the ability to share an article on Facebook or find it via Google. In fact, Wikipedia might have to close down,” said Ruby Gonzalez. NordVPN encourages internet users to visit savetheinternet.info to sign their petition and see what the next step could be in defeating this proposal.</s>The Italian language Wikipedia website has 'gone dark' in a protest against proposed EU copyright laws, with all pages temporarily blocked.

MEPs will this week vote on a new copyright directive, which was previously approved by a committee.

EU politicians say the proposed measures are aimed at achieving goals such as "fair pay for artists and journalists" and "protecting freedom of expression and innovation".

However, activists and web freedom organisations have voiced strong opposition to the proposals.

Two articles in particular - 11 and 13 - have caused significant controversy.

Campaigners claim the rules would effectively ban memes from the web.

The European Digital Rights (EDRi) association claims the directive contains measures "to monitor and filter virtually all uploads to the internet".

Amid mounting opposition to the proposals, the Italian Wikipedia community has decided to 'obscure all encyclopedia pages' to highlight its concerns around the proposed copyright rules.

They write: "The directive instead of updating the copyright laws in Europe and promoting the participation of all the citizens to the society of information, threatens online freedom and creates obstacles to accessing the Web, imposing new barriers, filters and restrictions.

"If the proposal would be approved in its current form, it could be impossible to share a news article on social networks, or find it through a search engine; Wikipedia itself would be at risk."

It adds: "We want to continue to offer a free, open, collaborative encyclopedia with verifiable content. We call on all Members of the European Parliament to vote against the current text [and] reopen the discussion."

If the vote on the directive passes this week, the controversial law will be negotiated with the European Council ahead of a potential final vote later this year.</s>FILE: The overhaul of European copyright law is divided into several sections, one of which is the reform criticised by Wikipedia and others who have warned it will lead to blanket censorship by tech giants. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

MADRID - Wikipedia went down in at least three countries Wednesday in a protest at an upcoming European Parliament vote on a highly disputed law that could make online platforms legally liable for copyrighted material put on the web by users.

In Spain, Italy and Poland, an explanatory protest statement about the upcoming vote came up when the online encyclopedia was consulted.

"The directive would threaten online freedom and would impose new filters, barriers and restrictions to access the web," Wikipedia Spain said in its statement.

"If the proposal was approved in its actual version, actions, like sharing news on social networks or accessing news via a search engine, would be more complicated on the Internet."

It added that Wikipedia would be "at risk" and asked users to phone their MEPs.

The overhaul of European copyright law is divided into several sections, one of which is the reform criticised by Wikipedia and others who have warned it will lead to blanket censorship by tech giants.

Another reform would force online platforms such as Google and Facebook to pay for links to news content, which news agencies including AFP have hailed as a "major step".

The European Commission has replied saying that "Wikipedia and other online encyclopaedias would not fall within the scope of the Commission's Copyright proposal."

But Wikipedia chief Jimmy Wales and Greens MEP Julia Reda, a leading campaigner on the issue, insist that it will.

Thursday's parliament vote is not final, but only sets out the negotiating position of MEPs.

There then follow negotiations with member states for a final position, during which the full extent of the law and whether it does apply to Wikipedia will be worked out.

Austria, which has just assumed the EU's six-month rotating presidency, has said this will be difficult, so there will have to be some sort of compromise.</s>In other words, those proposals will make it hard to spread news or even to post memes.

Due to the nature of Wikipedia and its reliance on community contributors, both Articles could have a huge effect on the website. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has been a vocal critic of the Directive and has been encouraging people to call their European representatives ahead of the final vote tomorrow, July 5th, 10AM UCT. Legislators tried to add an exemption for encyclopedias after the initial wave of criticisms, but due to what the EFF calls "sloppy drafting," it still puts platforms like Wikipedia at risk. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation explained: the exemption is limited to "noncommercial activity," but every file on Wikipedia is licensed for commercial use.

The Italian and Spanish Wikipedia pages are echoing Wales' plea for people to call their European representatives. They're also linking to websites dedicated to fighting the Directive and are asking the Parliament to reject it in its current form. Here is a rough translation of the notice on Italian Wikipedia's home page from Google Translate:

On 5 July 2018 the European Parliament will decide whether to speed up the approval of the copyright directive. This directive, if promulgated, will significantly limit the freedom of the Internet. Instead of updating the copyright laws in Europe to promote everyone's participation in the information society, it threatens online freedom and creates barriers to accessing the Net by imposing new barriers, filters and restrictions. If the proposal is approved, it may be impossible to share a newspaper article on social networks or find it on a search engine. Wikipedia itself would risk to close. The proposal has already met with the firm disapproval of over 70 computer scientists, including web creator Tim Berners-Lee, 169 academics, 145 organizations working in the fields of human rights, freedom of the press, scientific research and the computer industry and the Wikimedia Foundation. For these reasons, the Italian Wikipedia community has decided to obscure all encyclopedia pages. We want to continue to offer a free, open, collaborative encyclopedia with verifiable content. We therefore ask all Members of the European Parliament to reject the current text of the directive and to reopen the debate by examining the many proposals of the Wikimedia associations, starting with the abolition of Articles 11 and 13, as well as the extension of the freedom of panorama to the whole EU and the protection of the public domain.
The Italian Wikipedia blocks all articles in protest of the European Union's copyright law.