Dick's Furry Chicks w/Dicks

But there are fewer and fewer mainstream sites and services that support porn and adult content, and much of that attitude has grown out of Apple’s strict controls over the App Store and the iOS ecosystem. Steve Jobs famously suggested that “folks who want porn can buy an Android phone,” and Apple has repeatedly leveraged its unprecedented power over millions of smartphones to sanitize the apps that are available on iPhones. Apple does not allow apps “that contain user generated content that is frequently pornographic.” In 2016, Apple famously deleted all third-party Reddit apps that allowed users to toggle NSFW posts on and off; even now, it is impossible to access porn on an iOS Reddit app unless you jump through various hoops.

remember though that this anger isn’t about Being Horny On Main, it’s about sex workers, their platforms and followers, NSFW creators and their art, and adult content communities that are continually being shoved out of spaces they created in recent years: 

Tumblr’s leadership seems to believe that the community using Tumblr for adult content is the same as any other porn site—showing a serious disconnect with how its users actually interact and connect on its own platform. “We will leave it to them and focus our efforts on creating the most welcoming environment possible for our community,” he wrote.

The value of Tumblr for NSFW creators and fans was in the autonomy to curate something original, and the freedom to express and share what they’re into—something that can’t be replaced by algorithmically-suggested porn on the rest of the internet.

it was mentioned before somewhere else, but 20% of Tumblr’s traffic is brought in by content they’re now flagging as “adult” 

This is yet another example of a platform ignoring adult content when it helps the platform flourish, and then leaving those users out to dry when it’s time to crack down for some monetary gain or face-saving. In addition to being a terrible way to treat your user base, banning adult content on Tumblr will stifle a lot of creativity.

and of course, Apple is also one of the companies that has repeatedly come under fire for censoring lgbtq/queer identities on their sites, the app store, and also caved to russia’s anti-lgbtq policies like a stick of rotten bamboo

i made a doodle 

Memes and YouTube videos are *not* in its jurisdiction. Social media sites may *choose* to take down memes en masse, *pinning the blame on* the new policy, but that’s their evil, that’s a pretty common tactic that eurosceptic agents pull. In all likelihood, what will happen is things will get taken down and you’ll have to appeal to the EU *instead of* appealing to YouTube or Facebook or whatever the fuck.

Like. “Loads of people will lose their source of income!” Yeah! The social media giants *already do that to people!* They *already* discriminate arbitrarily and remove shit based on enigmatic algorithms, then take ages to listen to appeals! The EU is pissed at them for *relying on* algorithms that they never disclose! That’s what’s being regulated here!

This is not the first time this kind of thing has happened! It’s just the first time it’s happened to social media! And naturally, the social media companies are paying *a lot* of money to convince their users Article 13 will be the end of the world.

It’s all been one cyclical grapevine. Believing people who said this was a bad thing, spreading that idea in good faith, and not really taking the time to check the source material. 

You’ll have to copy and paste this into your browser, but this’ll take you to the full text of Article 13. 

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52016PC0593

“[A]uthors and performers often have a weak bargaining position in their contractual relationships, when licensing their rights. In addition, transparency on the revenues generated by the use of their works or performances often remains limited. This ultimately affects the remuneration of the authors and performers. This proposal includes measures to improve transparency and better balanced contractual relationships between authors and performers and those to whom they assign their rights.”

(Authors/performers = content creators. Users. Those to whom they assign their rights = the websites whose Terms & Conditions we literally legally sign.)

Before that, it mentions that it has identified three kinds of Internet content that should receive more protection than they currently do: Education, research, and preservation of cultural heritage.

The EU may talk old-fashioned, but they’re not stupid. “Preservation of cultural heritage” is what even the most ‘pointless’ memes fall under. (Memes aren’t made in a vacuum. They are *a new language for* culture. Europe sees a hell of a lot of that in practice.) And that’s not even getting at the memes that fall under education, or even research (think memes that compile vast amounts of information).

You’ll notice there are still some memes that would be a bit questionable here. They’re the ones that propagate hate speech, or advance political purposes. The EU is a *stickler* for those. Those will be the kinds of memes that any changes will most directly affect.

“Furthermore, the proposal will not affect retroactively any acts undertaken or rights acquired before the date of transposition. The transparency obligation contained in the proposal only aims at rebalancing contractual relationships between creators and their contractual counterparts while respecting contractual freedom.”

“Access and availability of audiovisual works on video-on-demand platforms: A non-legislative option (Option 1), consisting in the organisation of a stakeholder dialogue on licensing issues, was not retained as it was deemed insufficient to address individual cases of blockages. The chosen option (Option 2) combines the organisation of a stakeholder dialogue with the obligation for Member States to set up a negotiation mechanism.”

In other words: the EU consulted the big-name corporations (like record companies) for their input, the corporations said “we should get to say if individual videos (like lyric videos) stay up or not.” The EU concluded that was not sufficient, and that instead each member state– each EU country– should have a specialised appeal process for individuals to contact if their content gets unfairly taken down.

“New technological developments have been carefully examined. The proposal includes several exceptions that aim at facilitating the use of copyright-protected content via new technologies. This proposal also includes measures to facilitate access to content, including via digital networks. Finally, it ensures a balanced bargaining position between all actors in the digital environment.”

Fans should be fine. If the proposal goes through, it would be easier to *access* the content we’re fans of. Cross-border region blocking is a thing the proposal addresses a lot, seeks to circumvent.

I’m gonna stop with this chain of reblogs for now. I need sleep.

Just a cat sitting on a bench.

Rock the couch, but try not to land on your face. .. Though I bet he’ll find his way REAL deep if you do..