Crowdfunding is when people put money on the Internet in order to jointly fund a project that would otherwise remain unfinanziert likely.

As a result, it is then perhaps a Stromberg-out feature length episode. Or a book from his own kind, has photographed for the famous photographer Tim Mantoani photographers and their most famous photographs with a very unusual camera. A great idea and a great result for the well-designed project volume of about 17,000 U.S. dollars, arranged via kickstart. Be sure to look!

We wish you a nice weekend
Stefan Heijnk

Let me be clear: copyright and intellectual property rights protection, for good reasons. Artists, musicians and journalists, for example free to make a living from their work. The same goes for newspaper publishers. If you own the rights to the intellectual work infringed, must therefore find a legal sanction. No one will want to be questioned.

The planned power protection laws of the Federal Government, however, has to be done included in the present coalition design with the protection of intellectual property, nothing: It is a law that allows publishers in the future rather firmly to ask for references on their own websites, not only from Google money, but by many other link translators also. In the corresponding paper of the coalition committee of the CDU / CSU and FDP from 04 March 2012, it means:

"The coalition agreement has been agreed that publishers in the online environment should not be treated worse than other plant promoters. Therefore, manufacturers of newspapers and their own ancillary rights for editorial and technical definition of journalistic articles or parts of it get smaller.

Commercial traders out there, such as search engines and news aggregators should continue to pay for the distribution of press products (such as newspaper articles) on the Internet a fee to the publishers. This press publishers in the profits of commercial Internet services are involved in this - make use of the published products - with the previously unpaid. The author will receive an appropriate financial contribution towards the realization of the power protection law. Collection and distribution of royalties to be made through a collecting society. The term of protection shall be one year.

The private use of newspapers and the Internet is not subject to royalties, normal users will not be so concerned. In industry, the reading remains on the screen, saving and printing of newspapers and free. "

Of such a designed power protection law would be decided in the free flow of information to intervene on the Internet.

This price is too high: While the private use would remain free of press products. Nevertheless, indirectly of course, ALL users will be affected by such a reorganization. Imagine the front of all: Who will still refer to future articles on newspaper websites, or even want to quote from it, even if sentences or paragraphs ("small pieces") may only be used for cash? Such far-reaching legislation would be a massive intervention in the affairs of public information, would make many small multipliers, and so limit the diversity of opinion drastically.

Needless it is on top of that: Who does not want to appear in Google News, just use that . disallow form preventing Who wants that Google deserves to link references to their own side money, this may well already by a simple no-follow entry in the meta- Tags stop. And who wants mitkassieren at Google, has to negotiate a contract with Google. Without any legislator. Without any intervention in the free flow of information. And without any statutory intellectual property right.

Related Links

Coalition Committee for Power Protection Law

Pros and Cons of ancillary rights

ACTA, PIPA, SOPA, performance rights for publishers - the legal framework for the free self-and-Other-information on the Web should be taken in the European Union's future dramatically close. Many of the new rules - they should actually become law - what is now commonplace on the Web would affect heavily and criminalize parts.

Although there is no doubt ensure that copyright and exploitation rights must be protected of course, on the Web: It may be that the free flow of information is restricted in the future law, just because it incorrigible is, for example, as a download pirates illegally pay movies or pieces of music on the web up-or download it from there.

One of these projects is questionable ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (dt: anti-counterfeiting trade agreement). At the beginning there were many EU countries, mass protests against the agreement. The EU Commission has submitted the draft agreement in the meantime the European Court of Justice for legal review.

Even though several EU member states the ratification process has been halted temporarily and the discussion is no longer in the public spotlight: Final table is not by the Agreement. Originally it was to be adopted by the European Parliament in June 2012, now a decision is expected until 2013 or 2014.

This video explains (undoubtedly biased, but clearly in the matter), what would it look like ACTA and, if it is only applicable law:

Related Links:

The ACTA text in the text (PDF)

Join In: Online petition against ACTA

Join In: Online petition to the German Bundestag to ACTA

Fresh post of Reporters Without Borders (RSF): Today is the third time "World Day Against Internet Censorship" - and ROG has a matching published its latest report on the "enemies of the Internet". It is well documented, is suppressed in some states with massive on-line monitoring freedom of expression. Reporters Without Borders is one of twelve countries on the enemies of the Internet, 14 more are "under observation":

- Bahrain
- Burma
- China
- Iran
- Cuba
- North Korea
- Saudi Arabia
- Syria
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan
- Vietnam
- Belarus

Online content in these countries are heavily filtered state, critical bloggers and online journalists spied upon and put under pressure. Numerically, the list of "enemies of the Internet" from the previous year largely unchanged, the censorship pressure in individual states has risen again. Above all, Iran and China's Internet surveillance has intensified over the past year, according to Reporters Without Borders. In China, the regime of practicing massive pressure on private Internet companies to enable them to assist it in censorship. Iran has announced its own "national internet".

Both Iran and Vietnam in the past year, many online activists have been arrested. In Iran, currently sitting 20 in Vietnam, 18 of them in prison. Iran also support the regime in Syria in the control of the Internet, there were reports of the bloody suppression of the opposition is suppressed.

There are, Reporters Without Borders said, "but also signs of hope: In Burma, the military has released journalists and bloggers and blocked websites released. Internet surveillance laws are, however, still remains in force and the technical ability to continue to control. " Reporters Without Borders wants to see if the Burmese government to continue the reforms begun. This could mean that the country will soon no longer be the "enemies of the Internet" is one.

Countries under observation
Fourteen states in the current report presents ROG "under observation": These include, as in the past year, Australia, Egypt, Eritrea, France, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. New additions this year are India and Kazakhstan. The popular tourist destination Thailand in this country run in danger of soon to be among the "enemies of the Internet", "should there still heavily censored online content and Internet activists are arrested for insulting the authorities".

Venezuela and Libya, however, are no longer on the list of "countries under observation 'in Libya, was the overthrow Muammar al-Gaddafi to end an era of censorship. A law of 2011 in Venezuela, which had a risk for Internet freedom can represent, have been in practice so far hardly any negative consequences. Access to the Internet is largely free.

Even in countries that are not mentioned in the report that the Internet is often not completely free to use. ROG watch "in particular the situation in Azerbaijan, Morocco, Pakistan, Tajikistan and very accurate."

And in Germany?
Netzpolitik.org indicates that even in Germany not long ago everything was in order, "because here there is censorship, again and again proposals for repressive laws, disturbing surveillance measures as well as their exports." The introduction of Internet blocking has been averted so far in Germany. In principle it could also come to us in states like France, where government Internet censorship and restrictions on access for users are already common. ROG leads France past two years as the only EU member state on the list of "countries under observation."

Related Links

ROG: Report on World Day Against Internet Censorship (PDF, English).

The surveys, collating and arranging web finds by curators helps Internet users to relevant information quickly to separate from the irrelevant. Maria Popova from Brainpickings.org therefore says curators are also Web-authors, just in her own way was an act of curating the creative intellectual work:

In an age of information overload, information discovery - the service of bringing to the public's attention that which is interesting, meaningful, important, and otherwise worthy of our time and thought - is a form of creative and intellectual labor, and one of increasing importance and urgency. A form of authorship, if you will.

Unlike for photos or for scientific publications there for curating the web but so far no single source reference system, possibly the obligatory references "via" and "h / t" (for "has tip," says: appreciative tap on the hat- brim).

Popova has been cooperating with some fellow activists, the initiative Curator's code is started and developed two graphical characters for curating that the references are to allow for Web sources to easily: a tilted 90 degrees to the left of S indicates a direct link, an arrow icon with squiggles shows an indirect (inspiring) to reference.

This makes the setting of these characters that have been present in any character set, actually works out, there are at the project site a bookmarklet for your browser. The bookmarklet can be drawn every user in the browser link bar at the top and copy it deems addresses then from a little window in the browser to the eigenpublizierte page. Reference characters are included. As a result, this will look like this example:

ᔥ Curator's code
↬ Brainpickings.org