Paul Lomax

Chief Digital Officer. Manc, leftie, foodie, dad, feminist. Tech, media, science, politics, #mcfc, ADHD, gardening, transport, data.🇪🇺🇬🇧🇨🇦Opinions my own

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

Spending a lot more time at the other place now. See you there?

https://t.co/5KXdPgVcjB

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

@HighwaysSEAST @DartCharge Hi, can you move this service to BlueSky please?

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

@FlowerdewBob @fruitsleeves Website should work in Safari on the Mac at https://t.co/Oj6s2D1jUn

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

@ednewtonrex Would you mind if I copy the above to post on LinkedIn (with credit)?

(I prefer explicit consent to opt-out!)

[Ed Newton-Rex @ednewtonrex]

Today, the UK government announced a proposal to change copyright law - for the benefit of AI companies - that would cause huge, irreversible harm to creators.

More info below, but most importantly here's what you can do (wherever you live):

1. Email your MP. If you're in the UK, here's a template letter you can copy - https://t.co/c3pfbTndak - and you can find your local MP's details here - https://t.co/bPTOeVK6xt.

2. If you're a creator, email your representatives. Your publisher, record label, union - whoever represents you. Here's a second template letter you can copy - https://t.co/zEcP6tvuH5. You need to know your representatives are representing your views.

3. Respond to the consultation. You can do so by emailing [email protected]. If possible, write your own response, and go into all the detail you can. Feel free to use info / data I've prepared here - https://t.co/hbQE9f0Mm2.

4. Share these template letters with anyone you know. The more people get involved, the more the government will get the message that a broad copyright exception is the wrong path to be pursuing.

--

And here's a summary of the government's proposal, and why I think it's so problematic:

- Broad new copyright exception for commercial generative AI training. AI companies will be able to train on British copyrighted work without a licence, even if the AI model is designed to compete with the creators whose work is trained on. This would make the UK one of the most punitive jurisdictions for creators in the world.
- Rights holders can 'reserve their rights', i.e. opt out. But opt-outs don't work (you can't successfully opt out downstream copies of your work), most creators miss the chance to opt-out, doing so is a huge admin burden, etc. AI companies should be getting opt-in consent - it's unfair to shift the burden to creators.
- AI companies must offer some level of transparency over their training data. This would be good if presented on its own, but it's much less helpful if you're packaging it up with a broad copyright exception that lets AI companies train on most of the UK's creative output with impunity.

The consultation on these proposals lasts for 10 weeks. Anyone who cares about this issue should do whatever they can to make their views known to government now - there will only be one chance.

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

@BrentToderian @FlowerdewBob (They do wear though, obviously, so I’m not saying we shouldn’t reduce that. But disinformation about electric cars only keeps more ICE cars on the road…)

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

@BrentToderian @FlowerdewBob It’s a myth that EV tyres wear more. Someone just assumed they did based on weight. One company did an actual test but, and I quote, they “stacked the odds against the EV”. If their figures were correct EV drivers would need 21 new sets of tyres a year.

https://t.co/elOg1MTlVe

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

@T_Brautigan I don’t think that’s an approved ADHD treatment…

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

@EllaRobertaFdn @EdwardAdoo Well, somebody didn’t want a tram…

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

@FlowerdewBob 😲

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

@EllaRobertaFdn @louisehaigh @EdwardAdoo I think you meant to tag @LouHaigh by the way @EllaRobertaFdn

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

@EllaRobertaFdn @louisehaigh @EdwardAdoo I’ll keep banging the drum! Although I think costs have at least doubled since I worked on this… and I’d wager you could spend half a billion just writing the planning documents these days 🙄

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

The consequences of actions:

https://t.co/B41p2gUR63

The first time I met @EllaRobertaFdn was on Verdant Lane. I knew from FOIs it was a sacrificial road, and it was very apparent just trying to cross the road at the lights.

[One Lewisham: Healthy Streets for All @one_lewisham]

@htfb @88_andyb @martin_mckee Yep, this is part of the butterfly effect. It’s happened on Verdant Lane and Baring Road on the other side. And Burnt Ash Road/Hill. TFL have essentially held traffic back on ‘tributaries’ to the red routes via lights. Flow reduces, congestion (and pollution) increases. Complex.

[Bob @bobrmitchell]

The government set itself a target of installing 600k heat pumps by 2028 but only 14k were installed in the last year against an expected 50k. By contrast 1.5 million new gas boilers were installed
Suggest it might be because the UK has the world’s most expensive electricity?

[Brian Cardone 🏴‍☠️ 🇺🇦 @cardon_brian]

Oh my god this is too funny. You have to watch it all the way to the end, I promise you won’t regret it.

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

@mragilligan Did you take any bus lanes out?

[Andrew Ellson @andrewellson]

Why are bus speeds in London falling when the number of cars on the roads is in decline?

Today I examine the issue:

https://t.co/E9YGlFxL9x

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

@VincentStops There’s no option for “it really bloody hurts when you fall off” which is what our kids complain about cycling vs walking to school…

[Paul Lomax @PaulLomax]

@T_Brautigan come on you have to switch now…