Fixing DMCA takedown problems through shaming, legal reform

Big media have been using DMCA to force YouTube to take down protected speech, affecting individual's protected speech and the public's right to know. McCain has objected to this practice, which has affected both campaigns, and here Arstechnica comments on open letters just...

4000 Anti-Scientology videos pulled from YouTube

" Over a period of twelve hours, between this Thursday night and Friday morning, American Rights Counsel LLC sent out over 4000 DMCA takedown notices to YouTube, all making copyright infringement claims against...

News Bits: Veoh Wins DMCA Case

This is good news for all of us."Good news for video sites that rely on user-submitted video -- Veoh Networks Inc. was found not guilty of copyright infringement for content uploaded by its users. The decision from U.S. District Court judge Howard Lloyd ruled against adult...

Mother sues Universal Music

In 2007, Stephanie Lenz made a short video of her son dancing to a song by Prince, which was taken down. Due to the DMCA, copyright holders have been able to order takedowns of YouTube videos without having to...

Protest educates attendees at Minister's Pancake Breakfast

In the words of a Conservative association volunteer: "Where else do protesters get fed by what they're protesting?"Several hundred Calgarians attended yesterdays' annual Minister's Pancake Breakfast, hosted by MP...

Canadian Bill C-61 opponents make big showing at Federal Minister’s Stamped...

Carrying placards and wearing t-shirts with their message, opponents of Bill C-61, the proposed Canadian federal copyright regulations (also known as the Canadian DMCA) attended federal Industry minister Jim...

NY Mets Get Rickrolled

Usually MSM coverage kills an Internet meme (at least amongst the painfully hip), but the fine art of Rickrolling still had a bit of life left... in this case, the New York Mets have been running a contest in...

Verizon Gets into Censoring Text Messages

You'd think Verizon would want to stay as far away from this as they could but..."Verizon Reverses Course on Abortion Text-Messaging: "If you want to see what the Internet will look like in a few years without net neutrality, you need look no further than this week's stories...

Why Apple Can't Stop iPhone Hackers

" Apple (AAPL) and AT&T (T), the sole authorized supplier of the iPhone in the U.S., are doing what they can to make sure that legal clearance never comes. The two companies have put their lawyers on the...

Pirate Party Lands in the USA

The portrayal of pirates in mainstream media (including certain movies starring a certain Mr. Depp) and the RIAA's misuse of the word "pirate" could actually help the Pirate Party gain support, but I don't foresee...

YouTube anti-piracy tool due sometime in the fall

"Google’s YouTube is set to have video fingerprinting software tested and enabled sometime in the fall according to statements made in court on Friday. The statements were made during the initial hearing of the Viacom trial against YouTube owner Google. Viacom sued Google...

Canadian DMCA Coming This Spring

C'mon Canada, you can do better...""The Canadian government is reportedly ready to introduce copyright reform legislation this spring, provided that no election is called. The new bill would move Canada far closer...

Face to Face with a DMCA Enforcer

This article is a stellar read. A college student is called onto the carpet for copyright violations using Boston University's network and meets with the guy responsible for spying on BU's students and enforcing the ham-handed Digital Millenium Copyright Act..."A few days ago...

"DMCA Killer": Does It Go Far Enough?

So Boucher's and Dolittle's bill would soften the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, yes, but a quick read of the bill itself raises some questions. First of all, it looks as though tape decks are legal again. Lovely. Also, whilst makers of infringement-capable devices are safe...

Unfairly Targeted by Viacom? Fight Back!

I found this page via the good people at boingboing.net. The show so far: The RIAA has sent out spam take-down notices to youtube contributors based on the titles of their posts. This was shady work by Viacom's legal department, and should not go unchallenged. "As an RIAA...

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