"It’s a fight nearly as old as the internet.
On
one side are news organizations, broadcasters and music companies that
want to control how their content spreads across the web, and to be paid
more for it. On the other are tech companies such as Facebook and
Google, which argue that they funnel viewers and advertising revenue to
media outlets, and free-speech advocates, who say that regulating the
internet would set a dangerous precedent and limit access to
information.
That battle flared up in
Europe on Thursday. Two powerful industries faced off — technology
against media, platforms against publishers — in an unusually aggressive
lobbying campaign in the European Parliament over a bill that would
impose some of the world’s strictest copyright laws, which would have
required tech companies to filter out unlicensed content and pay for its
use.
On this occasion, tech prevailed; the proposal was voted down."
