Homeland Security Issuing Its Own DMCA Takedowns On YouTube To Stifle Speech
from the seems-questionable... dept
We recently wrote about the fight over copyright/fair use in political videos. In the comments, someone anonymous pointed us to a YouTube page including a typical takedown notice.. Here's a screenshot.
The real question is why is Homeland Security issuing takedowns? Works produced by the federal government, of course, can't have copyright. However, it is possible for the government to hold copyrights -- mainly if someone else gets it and assigns it to the government. So it's possible that happened here, though it still seems like a strange move. If the video is the same as the other one pointed to, it's just conspiracy theory claptrap, and I don't see why DHS would even bother issuing a takedown.
But, even if we assume that the copyright itself and the takedown were legit, does this seem reasonable at all? Having a government agency directly using a copyright claim to take down a video? Especially when that group is DHS -- in which national internet censor ICE exists. Giving it the power to censor videos too just seems like it's going way too far. It's not as if Homeland Security is going to bring the work "to market" to make money, so it's not like there's an "impact on the market" for the work. The only reason to issue the takedown -- no matter how accurate the claim is -- is to silence speech. A government organization using a government-granted monopoly to stifle speech may be all too common, but that doesn't mean it should pass by unremarked upon.
I reached out to people at YouTube to see if they could explain why DHS appears to be issuing DMCA takedowns, and got back the equivalent of a "no comment." I also reached out to Homeland Security, who at first seemed interested in looking into the details and then completely stopped responding to emails. Having not received further communication from them in over a week at this point, I'm just going with the post as is, in the hopes that maybe someone out there can explain why the federal government is using copyright to censor speech?
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Filed Under: copyright, free speech, homeland security, takedowns, youtube
Companies: google
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Re:
�... and go to jail, which is what I thought all reporters aspire to anyway. I mean all of us aspire to be committee chairman. I thought that was the crown jewel in a reporter�s resume is to actually go to jail....�
���������U.S. Representative Trey Gowdy speaking at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, July 11, 2012 (video)
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Newsflash for the 'gobmint wouldn't harm us' people out there: if the government goes to these means to take something out of public circulation, they probably do have something to hide and there might be some truth in the thing somewhere.
My Lai was called a 'conspiracy theory' until hard evidence came out that it actually happened, so don't be too willing to say that these people are nuts.
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Re: The Dumbing Down of America
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Defamation!!
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Re: Defamation!!
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Re: Re: Defamation!!
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And they probably used a phone book to do it. I'm very surprised ANYBODY at DHS could find an onramp to the Information Superhighway. But hey, maybe Techdirt is listed on AOL.
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Re:
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On a more serious note
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Re: On a more serious note
And another question:
Do those sharks have friken'laser beams attached to their heads?
Because that would be a dangerous thing for any DMCA notice to attempt.
COMBB
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Re: Re: On a more serious note
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Godwin's law violation.
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While works produced by the feds may not have copyright, works created FOR the feds may have copyright, and that copyright assigned to the feds as a result.
A typical conspiracy nut video could very likely contain shots from PSAs and other materials produced for Homeland Security by third party companies. Those companies would have to secure copyright on various things, and assign that copyright to the feds.
Sorry Mike, but your massive "censorship" claptrap rings empty once again. Don't you ever get tired of being wrong?
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- Peter
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And what planet are you from? Welcome to earth, USA 2012 a place where Orwell only got the year wrong.
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And the use of those shots in your typical conspiracy nut video is extremely likely to be legitimate fair use, so who owns the copyright wouldn't matter.
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At least read the fucking article before attacking it.
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Embarrassment
I'll keep it simple. It's embarrassment. The government is overstepping on the 1st Amendment and DHS is not going to provide due process here. The entire team of the DHS and the DoJ has become politicized to the point that they want to censor things. This isn't being conspiratorial given how the Obama administration has reacted to whistleblowers and the leaking of information. More than likely, someone is looking at this and even if it's insignificant, they want to cover this up.
I have no doubt that in the very near future, you'll see even more abuse of the Youtube takedowns to censor people and free speech since the DMCA allows for copyright takedowns without any regards to free speech concerns.
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Re: Embarrassment
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Re: Re: Embarrassment
Because unless you're a lawyer who might potentially sue or file charges against them, it's Google's policy not to talk to anyone.
Seriously, just try and find a contact link on any Google related site.
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Re: Re: Re: Embarrassment
I Googled "google customer service", found this in 0.55 seconds.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Embarrassment
Also, read the comments from all the people who tried to contact them.
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Just so they could fake taking down their video.
They'd definitely still want to drink their orange juice in the morning and keep their job.
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Because they can, and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it anymore.
There MAY have been a time when we could have done something, but because of 9/11 we have given too much away. We all know that once the government takes a right they never give it back.
We've given them too much, and it's too late to get it back.
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DHS acting like the CCP? "Harmony' comes to the U.S.A.
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Isn't it obvious?
Because we let them.
If you act like sheep... don't be surprised when you get herded.
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Re: Isn't it obvious?
...don't be surprised when you get fleeced
or,
...don't be surprised when you're in the slaughterhouse
would be more correct
art guerrilla
aka ann archy
eof
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Obama is a Nazi?
I thought Barack was a Kenyan Mau-Mau terrorist.
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Re: Obama is a Nazi?
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Think about it: their actions, especially when someone disagrees with them, paints their collective mental maturity in the very young range, so one of them probably saw the nutter while looking for targets for his bosses to sue, and figured he'd get a laugh getting it taken down in the name of a government agency, thereby giving said nutter even more paranoia fuel.
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Спасибо, KGB.
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I made the Original Post MORE INFO
Regarding the First Video that You Reported;
The video's URL is from an "Annotation Link" embedded within another YouTube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_654674&feature=iv&src_vid=6vlYJ UM52yE&v=0CV8Xt2VWvc
This is the STILL LIVE YouTube video with the annotation link pointing to the removed video;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vlYJUM52yE
This is the "Removed by the Homeland Security Video" featured in this article
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CV8Xt2VWvc That results in the Homeland Security Takedown "Sorry" notification..
=======================================
Google Search the Unique Video Code for that removed video to find all the spots that the video was embedded. v=0CV8Xt2VWvc
You will see ALL the Pages that had the Video Embedded. Look how the embedding rate Skyrocketed the week before it was removed.
========================================
You will also find many Blog Postings pointing to it with the same Google Search; For Example, below.
http://antimisandry.com/chit-chat-main/obama-calls-new-world-order-berlin-17886.html#axzz2 2KuT0Pe2
This Blog posting dated 15th-January-2009; Shows this link with the original title. The embedded videos still display the original video title as well.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=0CV8Xt2VWvc]YouTube - Obama Calls For New World Order In Berlin
======================================
You can go to Archive.org The internet Wayback Machine
http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CV8Xt2VWvc
To see the Cached copies of the video back to 2008
Here is the Cache from March 8 2011, This video had 516,043 views
http://web.archive.org/web/20110308070526/http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Here is the Original Video Title and Full Description
Obama Calls For New World Order In Berlin
Uploaded by jettercat on Jul 25, 2008
Taken from another vid site...
Friday, July 25, 2008 The media hailed Obama's Berlin speech in front of hundreds of thousands yesterday as a call for a vision of America as part of a "new world order".
Excerpts from The International Herald Tribune:
"I come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before," Obama said, confronting the delicate issue of campaigning abroad. "Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen � a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world."
Obama was warmly embraced by the German press, which frequently referred to his aura, or as the newspaper Bild put it in Thursday's paper, the "political pop star."
"Yes, there have been differences between America and Europe," Obama said. "No doubt, there will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. A change of leadership in Washington will not lift this burden. In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more � not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/24/america/sub25obamacnd.phpv=0CV8Xt2VWvc
===== =======================================
Now go back to that same Internet Wayback Machine Page and look at the Related Videos
http://web.archive.org/web/20110308070526/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CV8Xt2VWvc
Th e ones with "Grayed Out Thumbs" represent videos no longer available on YouTube. Several Hundred Similar were taken down by Homeland Security.
Many "Grayed Out" uniquely refer to Obama and "New World Order".
HOWEVER Videos with Bush+New World Order and Ron Paul+ New World Order Remain untouched
Videos that compare Obama and Adolf Hitler also display "Homeland Security Takedowns"
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Re: I made the Original Post MORE INFO
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Re: I made the Original Post MORE INFO
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Takedowns for Censorship ABOUND!
http://web.archive.org/web/20100607123639/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh4JHB3yo0s&feat ure=related
Today
Takedown by;
Revolution Pac
RonPaulGrassroots
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh4JHB3yo0s&feature=related
Why are 7 year old videos being taken down by Brand New Political PAC Groups anyway???
Why is Statfor Taking Down literally hundreds of Unflattering "Occupy Wall Street" bystander Videos. Does Staford even Produce videos?
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Ron Paul Revolution PAC Takedowns
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00499335
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Re: Ron Paul Revolution PAC Takedowns
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Ron Paul Revolution PAC Takedowns
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00499335
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FREE EXPRESSION
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Re: FREE EXPRESSION
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Re: FREE EXPRESSION
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Re: FREE EXPRESSION
That he has spent his time in office making government more transparent?
Read a newspaper and turn of Sean Hannity. You are just as bad a sheep as a lot of the liberals out there
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Clearly DMCA abuse....
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Account Banned
So the bad behavior here is mostly by Google, though Homeland Security has no business issuing takedowns for any videos for the reasons already noted.
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CBS owns Sky News?
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Homeland Security takedown
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Dept of Homeland Security
http://www.usa.gov/copyright.shtml
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land of the free?
a good capitalist model wouldnt be imperialist or based in debt, or censorship.
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DHS Takedowns
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The rest of the story
Simple solutions ensure that every post you make on corrupt tube is in some way legally covered by your Constitution rights to not be taken down. But never fear they will do it anyway so be prepared for a fight. Nobody said keeping your freedoms was easy. Just ask the millions that have died in previous wars to help us obtain or protect these rights.
Make the post under Free Speech use. Maybe add commentary. Or make it a parody in some way. If it is for educational purposes then do something to educate someone on it. Or use something else covered under fair use and make that clear when you post it.
Then tell them to all to go F*ck (f-word self-censored) themselves. Ironic that I have to sensor my own freedom of speech or an internet company posting an article about illegal censorship of Free Speech will do it for me.
Think people!
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DHS TAKE DOWN...
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DHS looking for piracy
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I hate liberals
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I can comfirm the full title
When I found out about this, I wanted to know what it was that was taken down. Because obviously if the government wants a video taken down, there must be a reason.
I started googling around trying to figure out if I could find a copy of the video cached by google's caching service that lets you view cached copies of a site. I was unable to find a cache of the video itself. But I was able to find a cached page of the video in question. The cache lead to the embed URL for the video that had been taken down.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/0CV8Xt2VWvc
As you can see, the "0CV8Xt2VWvc" indicates that it's the same video that was taken down. And this is on youtube live. Hover your mouse around the screen, and the full title of the video will show up. However, the video won't play. And the google cached version of the video was nothing but a black screen that wouldn't do anything.
It doesn't -necessarily- prove that the content in the copy you linked is the same. But it proves that the title of the video was "Obama Calls For New World Order In Berlin". If the linked video is the same video that was taken down, then someone up there didn't like the comparison between Obama and Hitler.
Maybe someone out there with better google-fu than me can find the cached video.
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Re: I can comfirm the full title
I continued trying to find a cached copy of the video. Out of curiosity, I tried used something called the Wayback Machine to find a cached copy of the original youtube page this was on. The actual page with a description, comments, etc. Not just the URL. Here is the cache.
http://web.archive.org/web/20110714162638/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CV8Xt2VWvc
(Note that any links you click will be relative to the archive url and thus won't work. If you want to view the article he linked in his description, you must copy/paste the text of it.)
Out of curiosity, I decided to check out the userpage of the guy who uploaded this video: jettercat.
http://www.youtube.com/user/jettercat
But as you can see, jettercat's account was suspended as well.
Now that I have this new useful tool for viewing page caches, I used Wayback Machine to view jettercat's cached account page.
http://web.archive.org/web/20090611144643/http://www.youtube.com/user/jettercat
There content of that page may give some insight into what the guy's views may have been. There's a video at the top about the teaparty. In his description, among other things, he says he's a right-leaning libertarian.
But, among the information there is a link to another account of his that he apparently uses as a video blog. GunClinger.
http://www.youtube.com/user/GunClinger
This account is live. And among its featured channels, is "Street Sand AveNEWS", which is a link to the jettercat user!
Thus I believe I have tracked down the man who posted the video that was taken down. I've sent him a message asking him to confirm whether the alternately-linked video is the same video as the one that was taken down.
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Re: Re: I can comfirm the full title
"Ah crap... Stupid mobile, just lost my reply to you.... Yes, my old channel was one that contained that video. I don't know why channels are being yanked, when Ppl are staying well within the lines of the law. The same week mine was pulled, ronpaul2008 and nufffrespect were down as well.. I'm sure many others. I made a video reply for you, feel free to share it. Btw, that was not the only upload I had that was flagged in such a way. Rather bizarre..."
-GunClinger
Here's the video he made in reply to me. I really liked it. He seems like a really positive guy and I got a good chuckle out of watching it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NLuXixZ5_A
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sensorship
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Re: sensorship
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They Changed It
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