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Sunday, March 3rd, 2019

    Time Event
    1:10a
    Record Label Targets Copyright Experts With “Bogus” Takedown Request

    Takedown notices are a particularly useful tool for copyright holders who want to make sure that infringing copies of their work are not widely distributed.

    Every single day, rightsholders and their representatives scour the web for references to pirated content, which generally aren’t hard to find.

    These links are then reported to various online services, such as Google, with requests for their operators to remove the allegedly infringing content. This system works well in most cases, but it’s far from flawless.

    We have documented a wide variety of mistakes in the past, ranging from movie studios who target their own content to outright censorship attempts. Today we can add another unusual example to the list.

    The DMCA notice in question was sent to Google on behalf India’s oldest record label, Saregama. At first glance, it appears to be fine, listing dozens of domain names where its work is published without permission. On closer inspection, however, one URL definitely stands out.

    The record label requests Google to remove a link to SpicyIP, a widely respected and well-known blog among copyright experts and lawyers, frequently rated as one of the top sources in the field.

    The site was founded by professor Shamnad Basheer, a legal scholar from India, who’s helped by a team of ten other copyright specialists. Not a site one would typically associate with hosting pirated songs, as the label suggests in its takedown notice.

    And indeed, no pirated content was linked on the site. Still, Google informed SpicyIP that it received a takedown notice, with which it had to comply.

    “Google has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that some of the material found on your site allegedly infringes upon the copyrights of others,” Google wrote.

    SpicyIP author Divij Joshi, who also happens to be a lawyer, notes that the search engine went ahead and removed the page from its index. If the site disagreed with this decision, it could file a counter-notice or reach out to a legal expert, the search engine noted. In this case, that wasn’t a problem.

    “Thankfully, we don’t have to look far in these parts to find a lawyer to handle this process, and our counter-notice was successful. Our post was eventually reinstated on January 21,”  Joshi writes. 

    SpicyIP notes that it’s “funny” and “appropriate” that the takedown notice was sent to a copyright law blog. However, it also gives rise to critical notes about these automated takedown systems.

    “Had it happened to a non-lawyer, or even someone who had ceased to take interest in their old blog, as it often does, it would result in the permanent removal of public information from an index which serves as the gateway to the internet, due to the ‘mistakes’ of private parties whose interests do not coincide with public access,” Joshi cautions.

    The implications for the future of access to knowledge shouldn’t be ignored according to the copyright blog. Especially at a time where “upload filters” become more prevalent. Also in India, where the Government recently proposed a law that imposes automated takedowns requirements, much like Article 13.

    Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

    12:14p
    The Interesting Double Standards in the Piracy World

    There are hundreds of millions of pirates online every month, each with their own reasons for obtaining content without paying for it.

    For this reason alone, attempting to generalize the feelings and motivations of these vast swathes of individuals into a convenient soundbite is a somewhat futile exercise. Quite literally, every single pirate is an individual, with their own personal reasons for doing what they do.

    Calling all pirates ‘thieves’, for example, discredits the large volumes of money spent by many ‘part-time’ pirates on services such as Netflix, Spotify, iTunes, and even their home TV packages. On the other hand, there are plenty of pirates who won’t pay a single penny for any media, for reasons as diverse as restrictive DRM, poor content availability, or simply not having the funds to do so.

    That being said, there are still some interesting observations to be made, including the tendency among more experienced pirates to treat their activities as a serious hobby, one that is governed by written and unwritten rules and regulations that have developed organically over the years.

    Many pirates have invested years learning the technology, nurturing connections and developing friendships within pirate communities, all while observing the etiquette of their own subculture. However, interesting complications can arise when adhering to those rules presents a clash with similar standards laid down in civil and criminal law.

    For example, piracy release groups like to take credit for leaking or releasing movies, TV shows, or software by adding their own text (or tag) to a release name to identify them as the source. For decades, this has been seen as a badge of honor and it ensures recognition among peer groups for putting the content online. The more quality releases under a certain group name, the greater the respect received from fellow pirates.

    However, hundreds of conversations over the years have centered on the cardinal sin of torrent site release groups relabeling releases first made by other groups by adding their own ‘tag’ to those releases. While some pirates are oblivious that this even happens, the act is considered the height of bad manners in many piracy circles and something that flies in the face of the unwritten and often complex etiquette observed by countless purists.

    Many commenters vigorously attack such relabeling of pirate releases, painting it as an unforgivable insult to the original release groups who put “so much time and effort” into placing the content online. While completely understandable to most piracy veterans, it is not hard to spot the glaring double standard here.

    If we take a step back just for a moment, it appears that while it’s never acceptable for pirates to plagiarize or wrongfully claim the work of other pirates, there doesn’t appear to be a problem with copying, sharing, distributing or otherwise handling copyrighted content created by entertainment companies. This is content that’s protected under official law, no less, rather than the largely unwritten ‘regulations’ of the piracy subculture.

    As highlighted earlier, it can be difficult to explain why one set of people find relabeling more offensive than breaking copyright law, since there is likely to be as many combinations of reasons as there are users. However, it cannot be denied that many piracy groups have become heroes in their own right, with many seen as doing more for the regular Joe than the majority of “greedy entertainment companies” who “place profits over respect for their customers”.

    It could be argued, therefore, that the anger at those taking credit for another group’s releases is based in the perception that this is a direct insult to the reputation of people who are highly respected in piracy circles. Everyone has their own heroes and some are completely off-limits, it seems.

    A similar conversation was spotted recently in a Kodi add-on community forum, which centered on the heavy criticism of an add-on distributor that had been spreading add-ons without obtaining the proper permission from their respective developers.

    It was interesting to note that the add-ons in question seemed designed for the purposes of providing access to copyright-infringing content, which of course is distributed online without the proper permission of copyright holders. There’s the apparent double standard once again, but that’s not really a surprise.

    Through seemingly endless litigation (against both users and sites) and restrictions such as web-blocking and filtering (Article 13, for example) a strong culture of “them and us” has been brewing online for many years. As a result, pirates often feel like an oppressed group that should be seen to stand together, in order to show a united front against perceived oppression.

    In other words, by sticking together and not committing ‘wrongs’ against each other, pirates are able to maintain some sort of order in respect of things they have some control over. When certain groups breach those rules or display a lack of respect for accepted etiquette or trusted releasers, another ‘enemy’ appears from within to undermine the cause.

    This muddying of the battle lines is typical of certain aspects of regular culture, where it’s somewhat frictionless for many to commit a wrong against a stranger but absolutely taboo to do the same to a close friend or relative. Again, this is also a type of double standard but when viewed through the prism of close alliances and human nature, it’s one that’s entirely understandable.

    Perhaps the big take-home message for content companies from this type of internal conflict is to become much closer to their customers, so that pirate consumers end up feeling a similar kind of loyalty towards them as they do pirate release groups, app makers, add-on developers, and site operators.

    It may take years to do so but underneath everything is a genuine will among all people (hardcore pirates included) to stand up for those who have really earned their respect. Once that is achieved, a big part of the puzzle is in place.

    Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

    7:07p
    Anti-Piracy Company Offers Advertising Deal to ‘Pirate’ Sites

    In recent years copyright holders, with help from advertisers and other key players, have worked hard to cut off revenue streams to pirate sites.

    The Trustworthy Accountability Group, an anti-piracy certification program operated by giants including Google, Facebook, Disney, and Warner, has been very active on this front, for example.

    The basic idea behind this “follow the money” approach is that once the revenue sources of pirate sites dry up, their operators will eventually throw in the towel. While that may work on paper, DMCAForce appears to take the direct opposite approach.

    The anti-piracy outfit, which works with a wide variety of clients including Dreamroom Productions, Liberty Media, and Udemy, is actively seeking cooperation with pirate sites.

    Over the past several years, the company has regularly asked torrent sites, hosting platforms, and streaming services to remove content, and still does. But, in an email to the prominent torrent site LimeTorrents, DMCAForce also included a “revenue sharing” opportunity.

    “DMCAForce recently launched a new way for File Sharing sites to work with content creators. Where you as the file sharing site can distribute their content for free, but in exchange provide the advertising space around the product,” the email reads.

    “In the case of direct products, we can provide you affiliate tracking links, where instead of REMOVING the content, you can KEEP the content up, and we direct that user together back to the product on a commission basis,” the company adds.

    The anti-piracy outfit explains that it has already made deals in the adult space. This worked well, with one of the producers currently generating $15,000 in advertising revenue per month from a single site.

    “This has encouraged content creators to keep their content up and build a better relationship,” DMCAForce notes.

    The operator of LimeTorrents, who’s not interested in the deal, was asked to reply within three days to find out how it can monetize the content. If not, the anti-piracy outfit said it would proceed with a regular DMCA takedown notice.

    The revenue sharing program is fairly new. In addition to reaching out to file-sharing sites, DMCAForce also invites its clients to join the program.

    “If you have a product you are selling, and want to ask these pirate sites to put advertising around your stolen content or replace the stolen content with linkbacks, we offer that as well,” DMCAForce informed its clients recently.

    It’s quite unique for an anti-piracy company to offer a monetization option to what it sees as pirate sites. We, therefore, would love to find out more about the details of the program. Unfortunately, however, DMCAForce did not immediately reply to our request for comment.

    Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

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