Contact: Jenina Bas - 07971 551778
Right2Link backs the Lord Lucas’ New Clause for the Digital Economy Bill
London, 8 February 2010 - The Right2Link Campaign (www.Right2Link.org), launched on 16 December 2009, has initiated a Downing Street e-petition calling for statutory protection of the right to link to publicly available information on the internet.
Some large content providers have claimed that the acts of copying a link, and following a link, to publicly available content on their respective websites infringes their copyright if performed without their permission.
If links are deemed to be their property, or their permission is required to follow them, the Right2Link campaign believes that the internet will be diminished as a resource and activities which are critical to the operation of search engines, the provision of digital information to the UK economy and to the functioning of a free press and to free debate would be restricted.
“By land-grabbing the signposts on the information highway, some media organisations are posing a direct threat to internet freedoms and to the new economy,” said Jenina Bas, Campaign Coordinator for Right2Link.
“We believe that there is widespread opposition to the prospect of such controls over linking. This petition urges the Government to enshrine the general right to link in law and provides a forum for the general public to express their support.”
The move follows an amendment to the Digital Economy Bill tabled by the Lord Lucas that would ensure “protection of the right to link to publicly available information on the internet”.
Right2Link also asserted its full support for the Lord Lucas’ key amendment, which it believes helps address the failure of the Government’s Bill to consider matters of wider importance to the digital economy than file-sharing. “This Amendment by the Lord Lucas is the first attempt to enshrine rights that we all thought we had but which we are in danger of losing to an unfortunate combination of old economy greed and government lack of attention. We are pleased that a senior figure has recognised the danger and we urge other Members of the Lords to support his Amendment if and when it is debated later today,” Jenina Bas added.
Since its launch in December, the Right2Link campaign has gained well over 3,000 supporters. It has contributed robustly to media discussions on attempts by the Newspaper Licensing Agency Limited, News International, and other media corporations, to restrict the free circulation of links by link aggregators and location service providers to their users.
For more details, visit http://www.Right2Link.org/faq/
BACKGROUND NOTE TO EDITORS
1. The Petition to the Government can be accessed at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/right-to-link
The petition asks the Prime Minister to create a specific freedom to create, aggregate, copy, publish and follow links to publicly available information on the internet.
It reads in full:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to commit at the earliest available opportunity to make an amendment to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 that will protect the right to link to publicly available information on the internet by ensuring that the creation, aggregation, copying, publication and following of any link to publicly available information contained on websites on the internet shall not under any circumstances constitute an infringement of copyright.”
Right2Link contends that failure to create such a specific freedom risks a serious negative impact on the free flow of information, undermining the efficiency of the UK economy, impeding academic research and damaging the effective functioning of a free press and informed democratic debate
2. The Lord Lucas’ amendment can be viewed at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldbills/00…
3. Right2Link’s website is at http://www.Right2Link.org/ and its news and views can be followed at http://www.twitter.com/Right2Link
4. The Newspaper Licensing Agency Limited is a revenue generating company, owned by eight of the UK’s largest newspaper publishers, created in 1996 to license the photocopying and reprinting of newspaper content.
- Struan Bartlett 08-02-2010
