What’s All the Controversy About Article 13 – How to Bypass It

Draft article 13 is included in the recently voted EU Copyright Directive as article 17 – see the full text here. It discusses how online content sharing platforms should behave with copyright-protected content. This article covers services such as YouTube, Soundcloud, and Dailymotion.

According to draft article 13 of the EU copyright directive, if a user uploads copyrighted material on a website (such as YouTube), the website can be held responsible for copyright violation.

This law has the potential to change the internet as we know it. Several groups and online freedom enthusiasts have united against it and they term it as a major blow to the free internet. With draft article 13 going “live”, we may have a closed society where the power lies in a few hands. Internet users will not be able to upload just any content as they wish as their uploads will be scanned and accepted or rejected according to the copyright laws.

The EU copyright directive is not yet in effect. Each EU member state has 24 months to translate the directive into their national law. Read below to find out how this will influence your day-to-day internet activities. And how to bypass article 13!

The two main clauses that have caused the most controversy are draft articles 11 and 13.

• According to draft article 11 (article 15 of the directive), search engines and news aggregation platforms should pay when they use links from news sites.
• Draft article 13 (voted as article 17 in the directive) states that websites and apps where users upload their content (such as YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram) are responsible if someone uploads copyrighted material. This means these websites will have to use filters to check content before it is posted.

Draft article 13 includes some exemptions such as cloud storage services and parody content such as memes.

Whether you’re a consumer or a creator, this is how article 13 of the EU Copyright Directive can affect you.

If you’re a creator

As a creator, things you upload for your audience might get removed without your consent. Content such as blogs, cartoons, illustrations, animation, music, and others will be put under a scanner.

If you’re a consumer

When the creator’s freedom will be curbed, consumers won’t be able to enjoy the diverse content they are able to enjoy presently. As creators won’t be able to upload song remixes or karaoke night videos, the options you have will become limited.

If you’re planning a startup

When the responsibility of checking content for copyright violations will fall on companies, they will have to use filters to make sure no uploaded content contains copyright protected material. While big companies can implement such filters, small startups will need to use a lot of resources for this. This just means that many entrepreneurs will have to give up on their dream of opening an online startup.

And that’s not all. Legit content can also get affected. Software goes wrong. Algorithms make mistakes. And a filter might take down content that’s legitimate and not copyright protected. Since companies don’t generally disclose their algorithms, there will be a black box checking user text, pictures, videos, and sounds to see if anything remotely matches copyright protected material. According to EFF, all communications of Europeans will be intercepted and put to arbitrary censorship.

Content blocking ruining the whole internet experience? Here’s how to bypass article 13 of the EU Copyright Directive:

Step 1. Install Speedify fast bonding VPN

Step 2. Connect to a server outside the EU where Article 13 does not hold.

Step 3. Browse the unrestricted internet and watch unblocked YouTube and other video content with no limitations.

Speedify encrypts your traffic and reroutes it through one of its servers but also, it combines multiple internet channels to increase the speeds. This way, instead of facing a speed drop in your connection, you actually feel a speed boost. This is unlike regular VPNs in which the encryption and traffic rerouting processes make the connection slower.

This makes gaming and streaming videos a smooth and seamless experience. There are no more lags or buffering times and you stream HD videos.

Speedify masks your true location and you can access all content that’s restricted due to Article 13 of EU. And since Speedify uses advanced encryption, you stay safe from hackers and snoopers.

Worried about how you’ll access the internet after they pass Article 13? Use Speedify fast bonding VPN and get a fast and unlimited online experience.