Also, freedom of expression? That one that has been under threat for a while, there's a new wave coming with the Copyright Amendment Bill (2017), now in heading to its 3rd Reading.
Everything on this page is a real threat to the stories you want to read.
Let me tell you a story.
Everything on this page is a real threat to the stories you want to read.
Let me tell you a story.
Two years ago, after I did the Tatu City series (owaahh.com/war-tatu-city/), several things happened. One of them was that someone in Lagos sent a takedown request to my host. I didn't know until I had all of 12 hours to respond to it.
If it wasn't a phone picking day (don't even ask), the site would've been suspended immediately. The point of the takedown (which was about copyright infringement on some images, I'll attach the letter here in a bit), was to bring down the site, and kill access to the story.
This is how far the law has gone. Columns 7, 8, 9, 10 are gazette #, First Reading, Second Reading, and Third Reading respectively. Source kenyalaw.org/kl/index.php?i…
So, yes, November 1st 2016, someone in Lagos sends a takedown request to bring down my site if I don't bring down several images in the Tatu City story. Most were photos in the masterplan, which had been shared publicly.
Here is the letter.
Here is the letter.
I am huge on copyright (creating anything is just madness), as has been clear in my many fights with well, admirers who took it too far.
But, I think forcing a host or ISP to bring down a site in such a short span of time (48hrs) will kill this business.
But, I think forcing a host or ISP to bring down a site in such a short span of time (48hrs) will kill this business.
You could literally bring down any site you want as long as you write a letter (and affidavit, as if that helps) and the owner happens to be sleeping or on holiday or on a 50-hour binge. For short-term goals like killing a story, this will work like magic.
(and yes, before I posted that letter, I thought about blocking out the name. Then I didn't. But I thought about it).
If you want to read the entire Copyright Bill, here it is bcckenya.org/assets/documen…
I have other problems with it, but this one bugs me the most. It is a sneaky way to weaponize copyright claims. So far, we have survived with the feral need to survive. if someone infringes on your work, you make noise about it, and hope they will bring it down because really...
The point of the section itself is brilliant (like taxing chocolate to fight obesity) because it makes sense. But the sneakiness is in forcing ISPs and hosts to bring down a site, no matter the veracity of the claim at that point, if the infringer doesn't respond within two days.
My solution to the DCMA request in 2016 was to bring down all the images in the series, then add just a few more, and then meh about it. But it's not a fight I want to engage in every single day. It would make writing stories harder than it already is.
This is what is going to happen. This online space is a society by itself, with no government (even you, influencers), but physical govts are finding sneaky ways to police it.
This is one of them. Is my point.
Anyway, are you a good Kenyan? Have you eaten?
This is one of them. Is my point.
Anyway, are you a good Kenyan? Have you eaten?
