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Comment by abhiminator | Hacker News Reader

>Article 13 has been the most controversial, requiring websites to enforce copyright, even on content uploaded by users. (emphasis mine)

This is laughable. Laws like the aforementioned shows how disconnected the lawmakers and regulators in the European Union (not that they're unique) are from the tech/media industry and general internet-using public at large.

Regulations like these could backfire real bad even with best of intentions from folks at the helm of regulatory bodies, who -- more often than not -- have scanty, if any, understanding of the how online social platforms work.

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It turns out that regulations are made largely by old lawyers, who are more connected and charismatic than smart and practical, and haven't operated in the real-world for decades.

Absolutely. This was on full-wide display at Mark Zuckerberg's senate testimony back in April, when a large proportion of senators had no idea what they were talking about when it came to technical aspects of Cambridge Analytica issue -- no wonder given the median age in that hearing was 62. [0]

[0] https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/10/17222062/m...

I was wondering recently how government would look if in addition to a minimum age for various posts (at least in the US) there was a maximum age as well. The argument of needing a certain age to have the correct knowledge and perspective on the current issues facing society applies equally well to an age ceiling as well as an age floor. There are doubtlessly exceptions of older politicians who are quite capable, but there are probably the same exceptions in quite capable younger would-be politicians who are currently excluded. It would certainly be interesting to see how that would effect the handling of emerging technologies.

"It turns out that regulations are made largely by old lawyers, who are more connected and charismatic than smart and practical, and haven't operated in the real-world for decades."

Maybe that's the career path for aging programmers. Get a law degree.

This is a fantastic idea. Perhaps HN community could start an initiative to support this. Ageism in tech is a huge problem that is widely discussed here as is the disconnect between technology and law makers. It is in fact the perfect intersection which will result in the maximum value add impact for ageing technologists.

I have created a post to discuss this further: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17455017

This is why lawyers should not run anything especially not countries and unions (like the EU).

Actually part of italian media industry is asking to pass this new directive considering the position of the government (which is against it) "extremely wrong and misguided"

eg (note this is an italian article, you need to google translate it): https://www.agi.it/blog-italia/digitale/copyright_link_tax_d...

"This is laughable."

Is it? Copyright enforcement was happening for a while now even "on content uploaded by users", where the take-down of reported infringing content got to be the norm. Are the lawmakers and regulators in the European Union really the disconnected ones here?

You've misunderstood.

Nobody is saying content uploaded by users should be inviolable. The points of contention are who is legally responsible for users' infringements. This law tilts the balance from "users are responsible" towards "websites are responsible."

Much as it was fretted about at the time, the DMCA seems to have worked out pretty well in practice. It strikes a balance that is reasonably effective and not overly burdensome on small, fast-growing companies. The regulatory burden of the new law is much greater.

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