I would like to begin this article by warning that it features no links to any other website, for the simple reason that the Spanish government is in the process of passing a new law that would make linking to other Spanish websites “taxable.” The law, commonly and rather misleadingly referred to as the “Google Tax,” forms part of a draft reform of Spain’s Intellectual Property Law that was hastily approved by the Spanish cabinet last Friday.

According to Spain’s Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, José Ignacio Wert, the reform will permit the reproduction of “non-significant fragments” (i.e. quoted and hyper-linked texts from other websites) without prior authorization, but it will also require the payment of “equitable compensation” for doing so. In other words, whenever a website aimed at “informing,” “educating,” or “entertaining” users links to another website, it will have to pay a fee to do so. Continue reading “Spain takes hatchet to Internet Freedom”