Internet ‘link tax’ law in Spain ruined this man’s company

We can all be affected by the 'link tax'. The freedom to link is the freedom to express ourselves and access information. Speak out at SaveTheLink.org Article by Javier Sarda for Newsletter Breeze I am not a lawyer. I don’t understand well some of the legal aspects currently being discussed under the copyright reform in Europe.

We can all be affected by the 'link tax'. The freedom to link is the freedom to express ourselves and access information. Speak out at SaveTheLink.org

Article by Javier Sarda for Newsletter Breeze

I am not a lawyer.

I don’t understand well some of the legal aspects currently being discussed under the copyright reform in Europe.

However, I do have a strong opinion about this law.  I have suffered the consequences of a bad copyright law being approved in my country.

The other day, my youngest daughter asked me:

Dad, what’s a law?

I told her that laws are norms (like the ones mum and dad set up at home) that help good things happen and avoid bad things from happening.

On October 30th 2014, the “Google Tax law” was approved in Spain. This law applied a tax to websites that linked to external content.

This law does not fit in well with the definition I gave my daughter about what’s a law…

The Google Tax law is not a good law.

It’s a terrible law.

It avoids good things from happening and doesn’t do any good to anyone.

As a Spanish and European citizen, my plea to the European legislators is that they avoid similar laws from being approved in other European countries.

If the copyright reform pushes back the Google Tax law that was approved in Spain earlier this year, it will do a great service to Spanish citizens.

No one will lose.

- Read more at Newsletter Breeze