How Much Does HBO Pay MarkMonitor To Send DMCA Notices Removing Its Official Content From Google?

from the and-why-does-this-keep-happening dept

We've seen plenty of ridiculous stories about bogus DMCA takedowns, but none get so ridiculous as the ones in which the content being demanded taken down is the officially released content. This often happens because of shoddy / clueless middlemen, as is the case with the latest example being passed around. HBO hired DtecNet / MarkMonitor to keep infringing copies of its works offline, and as TorrentFreak notes, the company sought to achieve this by sending a DMCA takedown notice to Google that demanded the removal of links to HBO's own website (as well as links to legitimate sites that included reviews of the show in question, Eastbound and Down).
Again, this kind of thing seems to happen all the time, once again confirming the key point that despite all the talk by maximalists that Google should just "know" when a work is infringing, copyright holders' own representatives have absolutely no clue at all, and that should weigh against the idea that Google or any other third party might magically know.

My real question, though, is just how much is HBO paying DtecNet / MarkMonitor for this "service"? Not only is it making a complete mockery of HBO itself, but potentially killing search engine optimization value that HBO might have towards its legit and authorized content.

Also, isn't it comforting that DtecNet / MarkMonitor are going to be the ones responsible for going after people under the new six strikes program? Stories like this really add confidence to the idea that they're going to make a complete mess of the whole thing.
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Filed Under: dmca, hbo, takedown
Companies: dtecnet, google, markmonitor


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  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 11:39am

    Dear hbo.com: You have been accused of infringing copyright 6 times (items 17-22 on the above list.) Per our Six Strikes program, your Internet will now be cut off. Have a nice day.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 2:15pm

      Re:

      By this time next year they'll have kicked all of us off the web and we'll be forced to watch network television again. We're all just 6 false positives away from losing internet access. I wonder which cable company will realize first that they lose money every time one of their customers reaches strike 6?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 11:45am

    If they can't filter out the obvious false positive, six strikes is going to be a nightmare, this suggests that they will assume that all torrents are infringing.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    gorehound (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 11:51am

    I use a VPN out of Malaysia that does not keep Logs.
    Go ahead Slime Warner and try to screw me.
    First off I will try to Sue you and I will make the biggest possible noise over this.
    Second if that don't work I will drop you in seconds and move to GWI here in Portland, Maine.

    Fuck You and your Six Strikes Bullshit !!!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      wallow-T, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:06pm

      Re:

      On the VPN out of Malaysia that does not keep logs:

      "Six strikes" is not aimed at sophisticated users who use things like VPNs. "Six strikes" is targeted to discourage the low-hanging fruit: in particular, it is designed to discourage the unsophisticated user from allowing content to be UPLOADED from their home system.

      Consider this statistical model:

      There are 100 people using BitTorrent and allowing uploads from their computers. Everyone has access to the libraries of all 100 people. Under "Six Strikes," 20 users move to offshore VPN addresses for their torrenting, while 80 users just give up because VPNs are too complicated and they got tired of warning notices.

      Now, the online pirate library only offers the collections from 20 VPN users, down from 100 general users. Shrinking the online pirate library by 80% is seen as a win for the content industries.

      A digression:
      The content industries now understand that there is no one magic silver bullet. Parallel initiatives are already putting pressure on cyberlockers, and (I predict) pretty soon VPN services which don't immediately cough up customer details will find it prudent to decline USA customers.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:49pm

        Re: Re:

        while 80 users just give up because VPNs are too complicated

        VPN capability is already built-in to all the most popular torrent clients. You set it once and never have to again.

        pretty soon VPN services which don't immediately cough up customer details will find it prudent to decline USA customers.

        So starts another game of whac-a-mole.

        When will you quit wasting time and money and give customers the content in formats and services they want at prices they are willing to pay?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:55pm

        Re: Re:

        First assume 80% success rate then assume 'pirate library shink' equal to success rate is exactly the kind of extrapolation that leads to 'content industries' constantly shooting themselves in whatever extremity they can find at the time.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:04pm

        Re: Re:

        I agree, that is probably the thought process; but two things to note.

        1. The 20 users that move to offshore VPNs were probably providing 99.9% of the content while the other 80 users were probably just leaching.

        2. I doubt any VPN operating in a foreign country will stop taking US customers regardless of the international pressure put on them. The profit margin is very high and a lot of countries have half baked governments that couldn't and wouldn't bother with enforcement. Not to mention VPNs have a lot of legitimate uses.

        Like every enforcement effort up to this point, a method of circumvention probably already exists and will be widely adopted the moment this goes live.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 6 Feb 2013 @ 11:28pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          The 20 users that move to offshore VPNs were probably providing 99.9% of the content while the other 80 users were probably just leaching.


          Sure, but you have to remember the way Hollywood calculates damages in bittorrent cases.

          Say you have one person seeding a movie to a hundred downloaders. Each of those 100 downloaders shared chunks of the file with the other 99 downloaders. So when one of the downloaders gets sued, the MPAA says they provided 99 illegal downloads. In total, those 100 downloaders are responsible for 9900 illegal downloads. It logically follows that by cutting off 80 illegal downloaders, Hollywood will sell 7200 more copies of their movie.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:06pm

        Re: Re:

        "VPN services which don't immediately cough up customer details will find it prudent to decline USA customers."

        If the VPN service isn't based in the US, US-based companies can't touch them legally without it not being cost-effective!

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:38pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          With due respect you really are in LaLa land.

          Any company that has the ability to control the US DoJ has the ability to attack anyone world wide.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 3:05pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            US-based companies can't touch them legally without it not being cost-effective!

            This gives the impression that the commenter your replied to is aware that something could be done, but is highly unlikely as it would not be cost effective. I would agree with this sentiment.

            Trying to take down some random Malaysian VPN service is probably not worth the cost.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Simple Mind (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 4:26pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Consider that if you live in the USA you are unable to play online poker no matter where the servers are.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:31pm

        Re: Re:

        Consider that your assumptions are all wrong.

        80% decrease LoL

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Beech, 5 Feb 2013 @ 3:28pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Even if he's right, and every torrent loses 80% of it's seeds, every torrent would still be available for instant hassle free download from one of the 20 left (assuming all users had same/similiar libraries). The whole point of bittorrent is that users have redundant copies. All you need is 1 seeder with the work you want and the whole system is rendered pointless

          link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Kingster (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:33pm

        Re: Re: [VPN out of Malaysia]

        Pfft... No self-respecting pirate uses a VPN. They're too slow.

        Offshore seedboxes will always be there, because there will always be companies that exist in locations that the **AA's (and their foreign brethren) won't be able to touch. Those are the systems that bring real speeds to torrents anyway. And the "library" doesn't shrink, since most of the low-hanging fruit aren't the ones doing the rips. Just the population of peers shrinks, possibly (but not likely, because you've affected the seedboxes not one bit) reducing the speeds.

        Most people just want some content in an easy method to use... Gimme a website, that has all the shows, music, and movies I want to listen to and watch, at a reasonable price (heck, I would pay $50/month for that, $75 if I can do it from my mobile) and I'm in. Make me go to multiple sites like the content asshats want me to do, and now you're annoying the hell out of me - the user.

        But you probably already knew all of this.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:09pm

      Re:

      So you're saying you're a pirate.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:28pm

        Re: Re:

        what's your point?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:51pm

        Re: Re:

        No, he's saying he uses a VPN from Malaysia that does not keep logs doesn't think much of the six strikes bullshit.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:21pm

      Re:

      As much as I hate you, I do use a similar setup. I have a dedicated server at an overseas hosting company using rtorrent and exclusively use private trackers. It automatically grabs a bunch of stuff for me. Costs less per month than two trips to McDonald's.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 11:52am

    In addition to how much HBO pays MarkMonitor to have its own content taken down, I'd also like to know how much it's costing Google to deal with this idiocy.
    The likes of HBO are always quick to claim that it's "easy" to know what is and isn't infringing, but I'm pretty sure it isn't "easy" for Google to handle 50,000+ DMCA notices every day.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 11:53am

    Alright, that tears it. This whole innernet thingamajig has turned into such a discombobulated boondoggle that there ain't no choice but to shut the whole thing down. I don't know what ya'll were thinkin', with all yer "information economy" this and "digital frontier" that. It's just a big sack of turded up hooey that don't work right for nothin. Meddling kids. Get offa my yard!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    BeaverJuicer (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 11:54am

    Umm... I am going to say Google should take the easy way out here...

    If they want it taken down, do it. Take down HBO's shit. Then, when HBO asks why, point to this, and make sure everybody hears your answer of "because you asked me to."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      John Fenderson (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:53pm

      Re:

      I really wish Google would start doing things like this, in addition to refusing to serve countries that are forcing them to do other various nasty things.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      That One Guy (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 3:01pm

      Re:

      Agreed.

      After all, if HBO and the likes are going to use such companies to 'root out the pirates', and are going to continue to claim that such companies would never make mistakes on what is and is not piracy, and so should always be taken at their word, then obviously the sites they highlighted are pirate havens and need to be removed from the search engine.

      'Live by the sword, die by the sword' seems rather appropriate here.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Beech, 5 Feb 2013 @ 3:32pm

      Re:

      I like it. All that stuff going on in Europe too. People don't like what you're scraping, stop giving them free traffic. I know Google has a "Don't be evil" policy, but I think acting just a little bit spitefully here wouldn't count, and in fact, would be awesome

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    bob, 5 Feb 2013 @ 11:56am

    And so what if there are glitches?

    The copyright deniers love to point to a mistake here or there as a reason to just give up on all enforcement. Like a false rape conviction means we should stop prosecuting rape.

    I say that the artists should get just as much forgiveness as Big Search. Right now, Big Search makes millions of mistakes each day when it recommends illegally copied material to its customers. When someone points out this mistake with an obnoxiously complicated DMCA process, Big Search just says, "Ooops" and goes merrily on its way making more and more mistaken recommendations for law breaking.

    So I say let's give the artists and copyright holders the same leeway. We're not asking for any more forgiveness, just the same flexibility that the billionaires at Big Search claim when they're caught.

    I wish the system were perfect, but it's better than almost every other form of enforcement. There are people serving life sentences based upon a single eye witness. Well, this is certainly better than that.

    This is why there's an appeals process. This is why people are given SIX strikes. If mistakes are made, they can be corrected. (Other criminals only get THREE before getting a life sentence.)

    So man up. If you're getting caught a few times, I think the odds of a mistake get smaller and smaller. If you do the crime, do the time.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 11:58am

      Re: And so what if there are glitches?

      you are an idiot

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      DOlz, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:18pm

      Re: And so what if there are glitches?

      So if I scratch the car of a mobster it's ok for him to have me beat to within an inch of my life in front of the police and then he gets to walk away while I'm charged with vandalism?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      DannyB (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:27pm

      Re: And so what if there are glitches?

      Was going to write a meaningful reply, but then I realize, it's bob, so what's the point.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:28pm

      Re: And so what if there are glitches?

      Same leeway that is rich LoL

      You mean like looking the other way when big media uses proxies to rob everyone of their pay and pension using creative accounting?

      or is like when big media talks about totally bogus numbers and say they are true?

      or is like how big media gets laws passed that have no safeguards against abuse?

      You are so full of shite dude.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Colin, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:41pm

      Re: And so what if there are glitches?

      The copyright deniers love to point to a mistake here or there as a reason to just give up on all enforcement. Like a false rape conviction means we should stop prosecuting rape.

      Come on, bob. Comparing infringement to rape in the second sentence? I know you can get it done in the first if you try really, really hard.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:24pm

        Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

        nazis, there ftfy

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Justin Olbrantz (Quantam), 5 Feb 2013 @ 9:05pm

        Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

        No, really. Rape and copyright infringement fall neatly in a small group, the other two members being terrorism and child porn (and maybe drug dealing, in the US): things which are considered by law enforcement to be so horrible as to warrant the presumption of guilt until innocence is proven. No other offenses are considered in this way.

        Although you might notice that copyright infringement is the only member of that group that isn't a crime, which does sort of put it in a class by itself.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:44pm

      Re: And so what if there are glitches?

      "When someone points out this mistake with an obnoxiously complicated DMCA process, Big Search just says, "Ooops" and goes merrily on its way making more and more mistaken recommendations for law breaking."

      The point is, Google cannot filter copyrighted results out without this sort of thing happening. Here, DMCA notices were filed against HBO and against sites merely containing reviews of the show. And that was by a company HIRED BY HBO, not a third party search engine trying to index the entire Internet. If automatic filters were in place, would some of those review sites even know that they were mistakenly being censored? Would HBO file a lawsuit against Google for taking out their legitimate movie?

      "This is why there's an appeals process. This is why people are given SIX strikes. If mistakes are made, they can be corrected. (Other criminals only get THREE before getting a life sentence.)"

      You don't get life for shoplifting three times, or even six times. And from what I've seen, many providers won't even let you appeal until you're to the point of your account being suspended, you have to put up your own money to appeal, you don't get to argue in actual court, and some won't even let you use fair use as a defense.

      "So man up. If you're getting caught a few times, I think the odds of a mistake get smaller and smaller. If you do the crime, do the time."

      In case you didn't see, HBO was accused 6 times above. Enough to get them kicked off the Internet. I wonder how HBO would take it if they were actually kicked off until they managed to schedule an appeal.

      "So I say let's give the artists and copyright holders the same leeway. We're not asking for any more forgiveness, just the same flexibility that the billionaires at Big Search claim when they're caught. "

      It's not the same, though.

      Filing a DMCA notice means you are making a legal declaration. When they file these notices recklessly, it means innocent people are being censored. I would rather see a hundred infringing sites stay up than one legitimate site taken down.

      Frankly, HBO should fire MarkMonitor, and the person who sent the notices should be investigated for possible perjury charges. A notice must contain "a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. " You cannot have a good faith belief if you don't even look at what you're signing.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        identicon
        bob, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:02pm

        And you do get life for shoplifting

        Read up. And piracy is often much worse than shoplifting. A single pirated movie shared on a torrent network can be copied hundreds of thousands of times. It's not called "shoplifting" if you take thousands of items.

        Read on:


        http://newsok.com/u.s.-supreme-court-vacates-oklahoma-womans-life-sentence-for-shoplifting/ article/3661551

        http://consumerist.com/2010/06/27/man-sentenced-to-life-sentence-for-shoplifting/

        http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/2011/09/fort-worth-man-gets-life-sentenc e-in-shoplifting-case-that-ended-in-death.html

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:08pm

          Re: And you do get life for shoplifting

          Breaking updates on the 11 o'clock story: in addition to mistaking accusations for conviction and torts for crimes bob also can't tell the difference between theft and copyright violations.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:29pm

          Re: And you do get life for shoplifting

          Which if I am not mistaken also increases the sales of the product.

          It is nothing like shoplifting, shoplifting you are taking something physical from a store that is a true lost sale piracy on the other hand is more like free promotion.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:31pm

          Re: And you do get life for shoplifting

          I didn't say you couldn't get life for shoplifting, only that it would not be done after 3 or 6 strikes.

          Case 1 was grand larceny, and she had been convicted over 30 times. Convicted, not accused. And the sentence was overturned.

          Case 2 involved a police chase, and he was charged with 3 felonies. Again, these were actual convictions, not merely accusations. And they guy had been convicted 10 times previously.

          Case 3 involved a man's death - and even given that, him getting life was not appropriate.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            PaulT (profile), 6 Feb 2013 @ 6:46am

            Re: Re: And you do get life for shoplifting

            So, what you're saying is that none of these sentences were passed down for simply shoplifting, and bob didn't think further than a headline to launch another moronic attack? That he ignored most of the important evidence before drooling on his keyboard? I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked! /s

            link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Beech, 5 Feb 2013 @ 3:38pm

          Re: And you do get life for shoplifting

          OOH OOH! LET ME TRY!!:

          If I accidentally cause the death of one person, it could turn his orphan into a Batman-esque anti-hero vigilante who, in turn, kills a bunch of "villans," whose orphans turn into Batman-esque anti-hero vigilantes who, in turn kill a bunch of "villans" etc etc....

          So by commiting 1 count of 3rd degree manslaughter, I could actually be committing genocide!!

          link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Gwiz (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:12pm

        Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

        I would rather see a hundred infringing sites stay up than one legitimate site taken down.


        I agree 100%.

        I have often seen this framed as a question like this:

        "How much collateral damage of Free Speech is acceptable when enforcing copyright?"

        That question is completely backwards in my opinion. Based on the Constitution where Free Speech is an unalienable right that is inherent to all people and copyright is merely something that Congress can enact laws about if they wish to, Free Speech is infinitely more important than copyright. Period.

        The question should be this:

        "How much collateral damage of copyright is acceptable when preserving the right to Freedom of Speech?"

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:50pm

      Re: And so what if there are glitches?

      How would your first statement read if you were the one convicted falsely of committing rape? After your life is ruined, you are humiliated in front of your peers and family and you can not get decent employment due to the stain of a false conviction...

      Easy to say something is not a big deal until you have to stand in those shoes yourself.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        identicon
        bob, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:58pm

        Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

        Sure, I agree it's terrible but then so is rape itself. As a society we don't throw up our hands and fire the police just because someone is prosecuted unfairly. We just can't.

        The same goes here. If we want blockbuster movies and sophisticated content, we need to share the development costs equally. We can't let piracy succeed.

        I think a few mistaken strikes aren't a big deal. That's why we allow 6. Heck, I would go up to 20 or 30 just to make the loons around here happy. The pirates would exhaust those very quickly.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:03pm

          Re: Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

          As a society we also don't throw up our hands and suspend adversarial hearings and due process because someone got away with rape once. We just can't. Well, unless it was something really bad like copyright infringement...

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Beech, 5 Feb 2013 @ 3:43pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

            I just wish I had more than one insightful and one funny vote to give....

            link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:11pm

          Re: Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

          "If we want blockbuster movies and sophisticated content, we need to share the development costs equally."

          I plan to develop blockbuster movies and sophisticated content.
          What's your bank account number Bob?
          You have to "share in the development cost equally".
          (Your words, not mine, boy.)

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:33pm

          Re: Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

          I rather see piracy succeed than a granted monopoly for imaginary goods.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:38pm

          Re: Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

          Just "acceptable casualties".

          Protip: Don't allow people to use "acceptable casualties" as a rebuttal.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Mr. Applegate, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:42pm

          Re: Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

          "I think a few mistaken strikes aren't a big deal. That's why we allow 6. Heck, I would go up to 20 or 30 just to make the loons around here happy. The pirates would exhaust those very quickly."

          Here is hoping those few find their way to your internet account. Then we will see how not a big deal it is.

          Funny how it is never a big deal when it's others, but when you are then one being wrongly accused the tune quickly changes.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Beech, 5 Feb 2013 @ 3:42pm

          Re: Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

          "We can't let piracy succeed."

          Too late.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          btrussell (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 7:58pm

          Re: Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

          "If we want blockbuster movies and sophisticated content, we need to share the development costs equally."

          Sure, so long as we share the profits equally too!

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Sheogorath (profile), 1 Apr 2013 @ 5:53pm

          Re: Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

          "I think a few mistaken strikes aren't a big deal. That's why we allow 6." (Emphasis mine.)
          Thank you for providing clear evidence that you're a paid maximalist shill, bob. I hope that Techdirt starts putting names above the cut soon to make your crap easier to ignore.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:02pm

      Re: And so what if there are glitches?

      Bob continues to mistake accusations for convictions and torts for crimes. The news at 11.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Ruben, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:08pm

      Re: And so what if there are glitches?

      What I really want to know is if ISP's are opening themselves up to secondary liability by accepting six strikes. Their status as an indifferent provider has been compromised.

      Further, where is the content industries' acknowledgement of individual accountability? If they've got proof, and the presumption of guilt on their side, why not sue infringers directly? If they started convicting boatloads of infringers, then illegal file sharing would surely drop precipitously. It's a slam dunk, right bobby?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:08pm

      Re: And so what if there are glitches?

      "I say that the artists should get just as much forgiveness as Big Search."

      It's not the "artists", boy, it's Big Entertainment.
      You're as bad at this as MarkMonitor.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Lowestofthekeys (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:12pm

      Re: And so what if there are glitches?

      " Like a false rape conviction means we should stop prosecuting rape."

      No, but false convictions end up requiring a change in the system. They did this with DNA testing and a lot of people who were initially "guilty" went free.

      There's the issue, bob, you have a flawed system that could be improved to avoid targeting false positives.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:23pm

      Re: And so what if there are glitches?

      "The copyright deniers love to point to a mistake here or there as a reason to just give up on all enforcement."

      Anything but. However, a point you'll overlook/ignore, along with the stooge saying "bob is right", is that mistakes like this show just how flawed and inaccurate their methods of identifying infringement are.

      Which in turn has the negative effect of showing just how bad they'll be at identifying people committing infringement. A point that is beyond valid and one worth mentioning repeatedly til certain people realize IP addresses DO NOT equal people, something the courts have ruled on.

      In point of fact, you should be slapped on principle. Since it was YOU last time who said IP addresses are more foolproof and hold more evidentiary (I'm making that word up, so it has been spoken so it shall be) value than fingerprints or DNA. Yeah, read that again. You said that. I hope your mother isn't alive to see you now, because otherwise she might have died of shame if she read that stupidity, written from the fingertips of something she gave birth to.

      "Like a false rape conviction means we should stop prosecuting rape."

      Ugh no. It means that we need to better develop the methods through which we prosecute others for rape, as well as go about increasing the effectiveness of rape kit tests. In addition to do a more thorough job investigating a crime and suspected individual before we start convicting them.

      You're so stupid sometimes it hurts my head. Your analogies are terrible by the way. Copyright infringement. Rape. Yeah. Totally the same fucking thing. Or... you know, not.

      "I say that the artists should get just as much forgiveness as Big Search."

      What you say has little merit given the history of your comments first off. Secondly, the artists aren't the ones making the mistake here. It's the people the copyright holders (HBO in this case, who are most definitely NOT "the artists") are having file the DMCA notices on their behalf. Secondly, they shouldn't get ANY forgiveness. Why? Because they give none. "Google SHOULD KNOW what is or isn't infringing!" That's the line you and others and the copyright holders tote out repeatedly. Yet, here we have evidence of the people they send out on their behalf obviously not fucking knowing what is or isn't infringing. (THEY'RE FILING DMCA TAKEDOWNS AGAINST HBO'S OWN SITES FOR CHRIST SAKE!!!)

      " Right now, Big Search makes millions of mistakes each day when it recommends illegally copied material to its customers."

      Absolutely and completely untrue, and pure opinion on your part. Google DOES NOT make millions by doing that. They do however make billions off of ad revenue generated from ads, which is their primary business.

      Nor do they "recommend" anything to anyone. People use Google's search to search for anything/everything. Google just indexes the web. Like a phone book. And returns search results as relevant to what was searched for. Nothing more, nothing less.

      "When someone points out this mistake with an obnoxiously complicated DMCA process, Big Search just says, "Ooops" and goes merrily on its way making more and more mistaken recommendations for law breaking."

      I've commented in response to you before and listed the steps involved in filing a DMCA takedown through Google. "Obnoxiously complicated" is NOT at all what the process is. Unless you A. Can't read B. Are a fucking idiot C. Don't know anything about your own products or who you work for or on behalf of. It literally is 6 steps long. Gives you options to select from. It couldn't be easier. Unless you just want a button placed on every single link and word and item on the web saying "infringing content", with instructions to "CLICK THIS BUTTON TO IDENTIFY INFRINGING CONTENT" (which you'd need because you are obviously too stupid to follow step by step questions and make appropriate selections as given from a preset list).

      "So I say let's give the artists and copyright holders the same leeway."

      No. I say otherwise. Because if they're going to accuse people of something, then the onus is on them to prove their in the right. If they can't get their own act together they have no right to demand the same of others. That's how things work in society. Before you wag your finger you better make sure someone can't wag theirs at you.

      "We're not asking for any more forgiveness, just the same flexibility that the billionaires at Big Search claim when they're caught."

      Actually, you just asked for forgiveness. And again, with the Google bit. Google DOES NOTHING WRONG. They index the web. That's it. What's put out there they have no control over. Get that through your goddamn skull.

      "I wish the system were perfect, but it's better than almost every other form of enforcement."

      Mhm. This is the part where I ask if your mother routinely abused alcohol or drugs while pregnant with you. Did she? Because only an idiot thinks this is better than literally almost every other form of enforcement around. So this is better than gathering evidence in the form of DNA or fingerprints (which are unique to every single person)? God, I hate you.

      "There are people serving life sentences based upon a single eye witness."

      True. But as any good prosecutor will tell you, evidence you can see, hold or feel is a thousand times better than any witness. Because witnesses can be wrong.

      "Well, this is certainly better than that."

      Wow. You just compared this to witnesses putting innocent people in prison. So you've literally just barely stepped over the "bob thresh hold for approval". Tard.

      This isn't better than that. This is the equivalent. If not worse.

      "This is why there's an appeals process."

      If by appeals process you mean, "pay to appeal the strike, but you're only allowed the defenses we allow you to use" then I guess that's an appeals process. Definitely a joke of one. That's not an appeals process though, not by any legal stretch of the definition.

      "This is why people are given SIX strikes. If mistakes are made, they can be corrected."

      Uh, no. Those "mistakes" actually CAN'T be "corrected". See previous reply to your other sentence.

      "(Other criminals only get THREE before getting a life sentence.)"

      Yes, but they also GET any of a plethora of defenses, in addition to which their convictions must be BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. Which IP addresses are not.

      "So man up. If you're getting caught a few times, I think the odds of a mistake get smaller and smaller. If you do the crime, do the time."

      Copyright infringement, except on a commercial scale, is NOT a crime. At least not one punishable by jail time. So it's not the equivalent of real crime, and definitely not worth of saying that stupid line you used to close your stupidity with.

      Okay, but running with that. Since HBO up above has 6 (SIX) marks against it, HBO is no longer allowed access to the internet. Sounds fair, right? I mean you're arguing for six strikes against some, why not against others? Either the rules apply to all or they apply to none. You can't mix and match as suits you or your biased outlook.

      May I make a suggestion? Go castrate yourself. For the good of mankind, you shouldn't be allowed to even attempt to procreate. Lest you (further) pollute the gene pool.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        weneedhelp (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:43pm

        Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

        [Stands on chair clapping]

        boB gets smacked down yet again. I just love a good ole online ass-kicking.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Rikuo (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:53pm

          Re: Re: Re: And so what if there are glitches?

          And I was in work all day, and completely missed my chance to digitally murder the bastard...

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Vincent Clement (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:27pm

      Re: And so what if there are glitches?

      Criminals have to be found guilty after some sort of due process to earn a strike. You have a lawyer. There are procedures and minimum standards that are supposed to be followed. There is a judge and/or jury.

      A strike in the ISP world means receiving a DMCA complaint from a third-party on behalf of a copyright owner because the third-party detected supposed-infringing data being sent to or from an IP address. There is no due process.

      So I have to agree with any original poster: kick HBO off the Internet and let them follow your mythical Six Strike appeal process.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      JMT (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 2:12pm

      Re: And so what if there are glitches?

      "The copyright deniers..."

      What the hell is a "copyright denier"? I don't remember anybody claiming "copyright never happened!" They'd have to be nuttier than you...

      "Right now, Big Search makes millions of mistakes each day when it recommends illegally copied material to its customers."

      That's not a mistake, it's a search algorithm working exactly as it's supposed to, by finding the stuff people want the most. If you broke that functionality (and I know you'd love to), search engines would be useless. It'd be like digging up all the roads to prevent criminals driving.

      "I wish the system were perfect, but it's better than almost every other form of enforcement. "

      Except for the complete failure to reduce piracy. Other than that it's awesome...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    ShellMG, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:02pm

    Is the company paid per takedown rather than hired for a flat fee/contract?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:04pm

    OMGz 6 incorrect citations out of thousands.

    Yup, the whole system must be bad.

    At least to Mike Masnick; if it means stopping Google from continuing to exploit people via piracy...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:09pm

      Re:

      It isn't just 6. The fact they claim they themselves are guilty of infinging content just shows this is a shotgun we don't give a crap approach.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
        identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:19pm

        Re: Re:

        Sorry, but Bob nailed it above.

        The reason Mike Masnick doesn't point out the fact that these are an infinitesimal number of mistakes out of all the notices sent, is because he is an intellectually dishonest piracy apologist and a paid shill for Google- a robber-baron corporation that exploits artists via piracy.

        And everyone knows it.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Kevin H (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:24pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          This example only shows one instance of this occurring. You would be a fool to think it is the ONLY time this has happened.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:31pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          The thing is, is not just 6 is more than that, after 10 million takedowns I very much doubt that 99% percent are even good enough since by Google's own numbers are large number is not even acceptable DMCA's to begin with, and more than a half are target at other business which strongly suggests the damn thing is not used for copyright infringement but competition control primarily.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Colin, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:41pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Sorry, but Bob nailed it above.

          This is the only time anyone has ever said this ever.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          John Fenderson (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:56pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          And everyone knows it.


          Nope, nobody knows it. I don't think even the trolls really believe it. I keep asking for the proof of these accusations, and not a single person has been able to provide it, so it's all empty bullshit.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:57pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Please prove with evidence that he is a paid shill or stfu.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
            identicon
            bob, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:06pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Ask him about his Ad dollars from the Google network. And ask him who funded his Future of Journalism conference. These are public things.

            And let's not forget policy laundering operations like the EFF that allow Google to get a tax deduction for their lobbying fees. Does Mike get paid by them? He sure quotes them as if they're gospel.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:13pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              I think we found out_of_the_blue's new alias...

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • icon
                Gwiz (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 2:30pm

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                I think we found out_of_the_blue's new alias...

                Nah. This has to be one of Lowery's sycophants since he keeps echoing all that baseless crap from that silly Trichordist site. (btw: maybe if you had learned more than 3 chords you would have lasted a little longer, just sayin')

                link to this | view in chronology ]

                • identicon
                  Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 2:55pm

                  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                  I marked this insightful and funny, because it's both. : )

                  That last bit about more than 3 chords though. Hilarious. Heck, you can learn 3 chords and last a long time (The Ramones, Green Day, The Kinks, etc). So it takes an exceptionally untalented individual to sink a 3 chord ship as quickly as Lowery did.

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Mike Masnick (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:34pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Ask him about his Ad dollars from the Google network.

              $0. We haven't used Google AdSense in quite some time. Even when we were using, it wouldn't have paid for a nice dinner between you and I for what we got from that for a month. Google ads = crap payouts.

              And ask him who funded his Future of Journalism conference. These are public things.

              "Funded"? Not really. Google let us use their space and provided snacks/drinks for attendees. If they didn't do it, we had two other offers too. Wouldn't have been a big deal, but Google had a nice space.

              Let's just say, even if we added up the value of the space they gave us and the food and all of the Google adsense revenue from that year (and that was 3 years ago already), Google "revenue" represented less than half of one percent of all of our revenue.

              If you think I'm influenced by that, you're an idiot.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              Mike Masnick (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:38pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              And let's not forget policy laundering operations like the EFF that allow Google to get a tax deduction for their lobbying fees. Does Mike get paid by them? He sure quotes them as if they're gospel.

              Ah geeze. I missed this part. The answer is NO. I don't get paid by EFF. I don't always agree with EFF and have said so when I don't agree. But, mostly, I do agree with them, and I think they do good work so I talk about it when I see them doing good stuff.

              But no money has ever exchanged hands... except for (1) about four years ago, Floor64 donated some money TO EFF and (2) late last year I went to an EFF event, and I paid $20 to go.

              In other words, I've given them money. They've never given me any money.

              Furthermore, if you actually looked at the details, EFF is not funded by Google. Very very very very little EFF money comes from Google. Yes, there was a LEGAL SETTLEMENT in which Google was FORCED to give some money to EFF and others, but that was because EFF OPPOSED Google on one of its privacy violation issues.

              You really need to work harder at your conspiracy theories.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • identicon
                Anonymous Coward, 6 Feb 2013 @ 3:27am

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                EFF is not funded by Google.

                Uh, yes, they are.

                EFF could not exist w/o its funding from Google shell companies.

                Why do you lie so much?

                link to this | view in chronology ]

                • identicon
                  Anonymous Coward, 6 Feb 2013 @ 3:43am

                  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                  You are so full of shite dude.

                  Quote:
                  Support

                  The foundation receives support from its board members[14] John Buckman (Chairman), Pamela Samuelson (Vice-Chairman), John Perry Barlow, Lorrie Cranor, David J. Farber, Edward Felten, John Gilmore, Brewster Kahle, Joe Kraus and Brad Templeton. The organization often receives additional pro bono legal assistance from Prof. Eben Moglen.

                  On February 18, 2004, the EFF announced that it had received $1.2 million from the estate of Leonard Zubkoff.[15] It used $1 million of this money to establish the EFF Endowment Fund for Digital Civil Liberties.

                  In April 2011, George Hotz donated $10,000, the remainder of his legal defense money in his case against Sony.

                  The agitprop art group Psychological Industries has independently issued buttons with pop culture tropes such as the logo of the Laughing Man from the anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (with the original Catcher in the Rye quotation replaced with the slogan of Anonymous), a bleeding roller derby jammer, and the "We Can Do It!" woman (often misidentified as Rosie the Riveter) on a series of buttons on behalf of the EFF.[16]

                  Charity Navigator has given the EFF an overall rating of three out of four stars, and four for its financial efficiency and capacity.[17]

                  The EFF has itself sent a video message of support to global grassroots movement CryptoParty.[18]

                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Frontier_Foundation

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

                • icon
                  Ninja (profile), 6 Feb 2013 @ 3:47am

                  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                  https://www.eff.org/files/eff-2009-2010-annual-report.pdf

                  From that URL it's obvious that you are just full of bs. Corporate donations amounted to 460k over a total of 3,676k so a little more than 10%. Unless we pretend all companies and foundations mentioned in the report are ALL Google shell companies and Google detains 100% of ALL of those guys then it's pretty much BS.

                  Keep lying, it won't magically become the truth ;)

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

                  • icon
                    btrussell (profile), 6 Feb 2013 @ 7:02am

                    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                    Who needs a url?

                    Do you know how to tell when a lawyer is lying? His lips are moving. ajs' lips move when reading or writing(ass-kissers find it especially hard to break this habit).

                    link to this | view in chronology ]

                • icon
                  PaulT (profile), 6 Feb 2013 @ 3:53am

                  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                  "Why do you lie so much?"

                  Why do you lie so much and why are you so obsessed with singling out Google? They are just one of many companies who fund the EFF, not to mention thousands of individuals, but only a liar or moron would claim they were the only important funder.

                  Unless you have sources that prove the "shell" claims you made, which I'm sure any non-lying moron would have to hand?

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

                • icon
                  Mike Masnick (profile), 6 Feb 2013 @ 1:59pm

                  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                  Uh, yes, they are.

                  In your mind, perhaps, but not in reality. Honestly, all this does is show that you have no clue what you are talking about.

                  EFF could not exist w/o its funding from Google shell companies.


                  Laughably false as others have shown.

                  Why do you lie so much?


                  Yeah, considering the proof already shown below is that you're the liar here, let's ask you that question. Do tell...

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

                  • identicon
                    Anonymous Coward, 11 Feb 2013 @ 11:24pm

                    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                    EFF has been hiding their donor list since 2009-10.

                    Why?

                    link to this | view in chronology ]

                    • identicon
                      Anonymous Coward, 18 Dec 2014 @ 7:51pm

                      Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                      RIAA has been hiding their number of settlement letters sent out since 2003.

                      Why?

                      link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 6:00pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              That means the tv networks are paid shills of Pepsi, Coke, McDonald's, and Hershey's. Ad dollars do not equate to 'paid shill,' you raving moron. Neither does corporate sponsorship of a conference. Do you even understand what is being discussed here or are you merely guessing and hoping something will actually stick?

              link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          weneedhelp (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:00pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          You forgot your /s

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:44pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Ha ha ha ha I figured you forgot the /s.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      weneedhelp (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:28pm

      Re:

      "OMGz 6 incorrect citations out of thousands." - Troll harder. This is just 6 on this one request. Just this one page has a 25% error rate if that is the norm then out of 2.5 million per week, 625000 are bogus? 2.5 million per month of incorrect take-downs.

      "Yup, the whole system must be bad." - Couldn't agree more.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:52pm

        Re: Re:

        "This is just 6 on this one request."

        Actually, more than 6 on this one request. 6 of them were just extremely blatant because they were for HBO ITSELF. But many of the others were for reviews of the movie.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          weneedhelp (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:08pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Just a quick look at the list I only knew for sure the hbo.com's were wrong. Were there more? I dont know. I would have to go through every link and see.

          That is the issue we bring up all the time. How can one be expected to go through 2.5 million per week?

          It is like a DMCA DDoS attack.

          At what point do the requests overcome Google's ability to check, then when the backlog goes past the time frame allowed, blammo. Lawsuit, and some studio says see they left it up there take away their safe harbors.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:36pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            The HitFix blog ones also appear not to be files but talk about movies.

            There you have 5 more, 50% and increasing.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:40pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            http://www.hitfix.com/

            I dare him to find infringing content on that website there.

            The IGN one I also believe has nothing infringing.

            OMG out the 23 maybe about 5 have infringing content LoL

            link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        PaulT (profile), 6 Feb 2013 @ 1:28am

        Re: Re:

        While it would be funny to see HBO's own site get taken down over these requests - the fate they prescribe for everyone else - there's plenty of innocent bystanders. People who are doing nothing but review the series - essentially free advertising. I wouldn't expect obsessed morons like bob and AC to understand that their obsession is causing their own problems, but it's certainly worth noting that under their terms sites like IGN would stand to be removed from the internet for daring to even mention content.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:29pm

      Re:

      "OMGz 6 incorrect citations out of thousands."

      Nope, six blatantly obviously incorrect citations out of 23.

      We have only the word of the people who claimed that HBO was pirating it's own content that the other links are genuinely infringing. Bearing in mind that in filing for DMCA takedowns on their list of 23 links, 6 of which were HBO's own domain this company's representative claimed under penalty of perjury to the best of their knowledge that HBO was infringing it's own content on their own website, their word is worthless.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        PaulT (profile), 6 Feb 2013 @ 1:45am

        Re: Re:

        "Nope, six blatantly obviously incorrect citations out of 23."

        Nope, 6 blatantly legal version of the content. 5 hits from the blog site hitfix.com, where people are reviewing the series. 2 hits from IGN, reviewing the series. I can't be bothered to go through all the links - but that's 13 blatantly obviously incorrect links - 6 that are clearly legal versions of the stream, and 7 that have no content on them at all. They're not only clearly fair use, but they don't even contain the content being targeted in the first place!

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Mr. Applegate, 5 Feb 2013 @ 2:01pm

      Re:

      Um I see 23 listed (granted there may be more). Of those 23, 6 are for HBO itself that is a 26% Error rate just there.

      Now we look at the others that are obviously blog entries, and thus most likely fair use or advertising, there are 7 that appear to fall into that category, that is another 30.4% that are probably in error.

      So out of the 23 listed, 13 or 56.5% appear to be bogus take downs.

      If you would like to have me research more I can, but on the face of what is shown here it looks like more than half are incorrect, not "6 out of thousands".

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 3:56pm

        Re: Re:

        Except TF only posted the page with the mistakes.

        Why?

        Because the rest of the pages are likely nothing but infringing links.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Mr. Applegate, 5 Feb 2013 @ 4:03pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Do you honestly believe that if half of the ones we see are wrong the rest are not suspected of being wrong?

          A class in statistics may be of value to you.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Mr. Applegate, 5 Feb 2013 @ 4:03pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Do you honestly believe that if half of the ones we see are wrong the rest are not suspected of being wrong?

          A class in statistics may be of value to you.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          That One Guy (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 7:52pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          In case you didn't notice, that screenshot was the first page, and simple logic dictates that if they show a close to, if not over 50% failure rate to spot actual copyright infringement on the very first page, they aren't likely to have gotten much more accurate as the list went on.

          Now, your accusation that they were just cherry-picking the results to try and make the claim look worse might, might have had some potential had it not simply been the first page they presented, and even then, the fact that HBO's own website was among the ones targeted by the DMCA claim would blow that idea out of the water, as that demonstrates quite clearly that the company filing the claim is much more interested in maximizing the number of sites they file against, and doesn't particularly care about accuracy.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          PaulT (profile), 6 Feb 2013 @ 1:53am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Wilful blindness is not an argument. I know reality is not your strong suit, but even when presented with evidence you can't even discuss how more than half of the links targeted have demonstrably done absolutely nothing wrong. All you can do is put your fingers in your ears and pretend nothing's happening. Yet, I'm sure you'll maintain that six strikes is OK and we're all pirates right? Pathetic idiots, the lot of you.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          btrussell (profile), 6 Feb 2013 @ 6:20am

          Re: Re: Re:

          I had to vote funny.

          After reading your comment, all I could picture was a frustrated cop, after having trashed three houses in a row, telling a superior that if they just continue dismantling houses, surely they will find some illegal drugs somewhere in one of the houses on the block.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Mr. Applegate, 6 Feb 2013 @ 12:34pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Perhaps because the first page showed what they were talking about that HBO's own URLs were in the listing. That was enough to prove the point being made.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 5:56pm

      Re:

      Even a single false accusation is unacceptable. It is no more acceptable than falsely accusing someone of violation of any criminal statute, particularly with the terrible 6 strike plan being rolled out. You can poo-poo it all you want. Make light of it. We won't, and we shouldn't.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Karim, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:08pm

    if it means stopping Google from continuing to exploit people via piracy...

    What does that even mean?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      wallow-T, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:24pm

      Re:

      What does the reference to Google mean?

      It means that lots of people on the content-industry side decided on a strategy of Google-bashing after they concluded that Google drove the anti-SOPA protest and was their most powerful antagonist.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        John Fenderson (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:35pm

        Re: Re:

        To be honest, I still, to this day, don't understand why they chose Google to be their scapegoat. Google bends over backwards for these people.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Atkray (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:57pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Because they truly believe that if they can destroy Google then all their wildest dreams will come true.




          @Mike et al. ¿Where did my first/last words go? I thought with all the site changes that they were all gone but see now they still exist.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:00pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          They're lashing out at the people trying to help them. Pretty standard behavior for all types of issues.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          PaulT (profile), 6 Feb 2013 @ 2:00am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Simple - Google has a lot of money that comes from advertising. Some ads have either appeared on illicit sites or targeted them. Therefore, they conclude that 100% of Google's revenue comes from illicit material. If this sounds idiotic, look no further than the stories we have here about newspapers trying to stop Google from indexing their sites for evidence, not to mention the people who attack Mike as being a paid Google shill because he was part of that one report one time...

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Kevin H (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:26pm

      Re:

      Google being the one exploiting HBO by using their content to generate their [Google's] ad revenue.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 1:15pm

        Re: Re:

        "Google being the one exploiting HBO by using their content to generate their [Google's] ad revenue."

        While HBO gets FREE publicity via Google-created searches...

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    jupiterkansas (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:24pm

    HBO sure doesn't want me to see their stuff.

    Fine, I won't watch it.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Ninja (profile), 6 Feb 2013 @ 3:28am

      Re:

      The worst thing that can happen to any creative work is when people choose to go without it for whatever the reason. Hopefully it'll become the norm to go without copyrighted content in the future.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        jupiterkansas (profile), 6 Feb 2013 @ 8:35am

        Re: Re:

        It's not that the content is copyrighted, but that it's not where I watch things.

        I don't have cable, I have Netflix. If something's not on Netflix, it means I have to go seek it out, which I probably won't do because there's always something else to watch on Netflix. Even pirating is more work than Netflix, which is why I don't bother.

        There's nothing HBO can do to get me to pay for cable, and then pay more for their channel. Nothing. Unfortunately, their business is being a premium cable channel. Creating original content comes second, and it's too bad for their content that it can't live in the rest of the real world.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:33pm

    The point of this article, shows only one DMCA take down out of the million that have been sent. It doesn't examine the rest. It means there are 6 in this one take down. So what if there are 6 in all the others too? 6 million errors don't make 6 strikes a very accurate process when you are considered guilty until you can prove your innocence.

    In fact it more resembles a kangaroo kourt. With built in errors to accuse, vested interests to find you guilty, where you come into the process already being condemned as guilty.

    Accuracy and fairness have nothing to do with it.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 2:02pm

      Re:

      The point you fail to grasp is that 6 strike is not a legal issue before a court of law but an issue before a company which has the right to remove you from their service at will.

      All the pretending that legal issues are involved is false. The only issue is does a company want you as a client or not. And, they can use any procedure they desire to ascertain if or if not they want you.

      The fact that you are inconvenienced is of no concern to any ISP. Their only concern is can they make a profit by providing you a service. This is not a hospital, water company, or electrical power company that as a condition of their being a monopoly they must provide life supporting services service.

      You may wish it otherwise and in some future time it may be different but as of now, today, these ISP are well with in their rights to refuse service for any reason, some reason, whim, or no reason.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        wallow-T, 5 Feb 2013 @ 2:57pm

        Re: Re: ISPs within their rights to refuse service

        The ISPs are going to have to deal with the bad publicity over the inevitable errors in matching the content industry accusations (IP addresses) to flesh-and-blood customers, and the inevitable errors in collecting the accusations in the first place.

        The RIAA didn't like all that bad publicity: isn't that a leading cause why the record companies stopped the lawsuit campaign?

        The Center for Copyright Information seems to have its blinders on, pretending these news stories are not going to happen. There's going to be a lot of finger-pointing between the content industry and the ISPs.

        Pass the popcorn!

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 6 Feb 2013 @ 3:36am

        Re: Re:

        "The fact that you are inconvenienced is of no concern to any ISP. Their only concern is can they make a profit by providing you a service. This is not a hospital, water company, or electrical power company that as a condition of their being a monopoly they must provide life supporting services service."


        Except, you are wrong, many jurisdictions now claim that internet access is indeed a right. Even child molesters can't be denied access to the internet, or even to social media.

        In MANY parts of the country there are VERY limited options for internet. Where I live I have two options. Cable and Satellite (due to trees this isn't really an option for me). The former is outrageously priced, is indeed a monopoly in my area and the latter is priced even higher, and has a ton of issues that make it incompatible for me to use.

        Further, there is NO WAY for them to KNOW that what I download (or uploaded) is infringing content, no way to prove that it was even me, or an authorized user on my system. What if one of the systems in my house has a viruses and is being used as a torrent host without my knowledge. (Yes, that is far more common than you think). I could easily accumulate '6 strikes' without even doing anything wrong (unless you count unknowing having a virus as wrong).

        Currently a lot of malware is targeted at gathering usernames and passwords and sending out spam. There is already existing software that sets up torrents to seed music and movies. Under this plan that will blossom, and probably become a goal for many illicit organizations.

        Now throw in the fact that more than 50% of the time they get it wrong and there are going to be a whole lot of people that are getting strikes that should not be. I hope you amass a few of them, then come back and sing the same tune.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    mmrtnt (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:37pm

    The Sooner the Better

    Also, isn't it comforting that DtecNet / MarkMonitor are going to be the ones responsible for going after people under the new six strikes program? Stories like this really add confidence to the idea that they're going to make a complete mess of the whole thing.

    God, let's hope so.

    The sooner this kind of stuff (six degrees of striking) fails and is abandoned, the better off everyone will be.

    Foward to the days when the legacy web-enabled entertainment industry is trying to prevent people from getting neural implants loaded with all the world's entertainment and knowledge.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 12:38pm

    I read this I get depressed then I go to Kickstarter and see what the power of openness can really do.


    Quote:
    Open Source

    If not for the hard work of the open source community, projects such as the DeltaMaker would not be possible. The “open source software tool chain” refers to Marlin, Slic3r, and Repetier Host. These are fantastic open source software projects that have enabled the rapid growth in personal 3D printing.

    We’d like to specifically acknowledge some of the individuals behind these tools:

    Marlin -- by Erik van der Zalm and Bernhard Kubicek, and delta support by Johann Rocholl
    Slic3r -- by Alessandro Ranellucci
    Repetier Host -- by Hot-World GmbH & Co. KG


    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/deltamaker/deltamaker-an-elegant-3d-printer-0?ref=live

    Doing that kind of reference to another musician, writer, videomaker, movie maker or anything related to arts would probably land the people who dared say they took advantage of something others did in hot water with the law.

    Those engineers are living the true American dream, where they can freely create and innovate and be rewarded for their work, while also honoring those that enabled them to get that chance.

    This reminds me why I love open source, is because we all work for something and the benefits become localized, we all benefit from it, not just a bunch of self centered selfish bastard crooks that lost sight of what is right and what is wrong.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    That Anonymous Coward (profile), 5 Feb 2013 @ 2:58pm

    Dtecnet uploaded torrents and seeded them.
    See AFACT vs iiNet.
    If filesharing is so evil and destructive, why would AFACT pay someone to create more of it?
    Oh to prove that an ISP needed to do more to protect its memberships copyrighted material, that AFACT went ahead and pirated.

    The founder had ties to one of the **AA EU offshoots and made a pretty penny when it was sold to MarkMonitor.

    MarkMonitor was acquired by Reuters Thompson, and the founders made a pretty penny.

    This is a cottage industry, people working in/with the **AA's feeding their delusions that this time the snake oil will work. When the people working for you can't be distinguished from the "enemy" except for the name tag something is seriously wrong.
    See also - ICE, TSA, DHS, DoJ, etc.

    Google has been compiling a list of the bad takedowns, and making the material public. I expect very soon they amount this abused program is costing them will be brought to the forefront. The cartels spend thousands and expect everyone else to pay millions to "protect" their IP... the system is broken.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 5 Feb 2013 @ 4:38pm

    What HBO is going to do is realise that they have a drop in overall income - what they won't realise is the fact that they've spent money to take down legitimate links contributing to their revenue.

    They'll then spend more money on MarkMonitor, believing the above to be the result of evil, evil pirates, and eventually shut down all online traces of themselves and go bankrupt.

    One can dream.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    FauxReal (profile), 6 Feb 2013 @ 2:50am

    Since the government signed the DMCA into law and it's hard up for cash, I think it should collect penalty fees for invalid takedown request. I mean come on, it's a cash cow just waiting to be milked and barreled with artisan pork!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 6 Feb 2013 @ 3:29am

    Alleged infringement not apparent (couldn't find a free download just by looking at it):
    http://insidehboshop.hbo.com
    http://www.hitfix.com/
    http://ign.com/

    Alleged infringement apparent(could find lots of free downloads links, not clicked to see if they worked):
    http://heroturko.me/
    http://hotfilerock.org/
    http://icefilms.info/
    http://icrazyfrog.co m/
    http://inspirez.net/
    http://imastudios.com/
    http://img5.forumwizard.net/

    Looking at it, apparently the error rate is 30%.
    A third of what DtecNet / MarkMonitor finds is garbage.
    In what court of law 70% certainty is allowed to be accepted?

    Apparently DtecNet / MarkMonitor high tech detection system is based entirely on GREP technology LoL

    $grep -i "eastbound and down\|eastbound \& down" collected_urls.txt >> dmca_target_list.txt


    Now where is my check?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    totalz (profile), 15 Jul 2013 @ 9:02pm

    Talk about "profit" for shareholders and markup statistics...

    "Honest" ppl "scam" $ from HBO, and smart ppl watch it for free.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    chff, 3 Dec 2013 @ 4:30am

    Re: And so what if there are glitches?

    I noticed that the following sites are also noticed by google to remove DMCA but going on top in warez:
    http://www.dl4all.com
    http://www.freerardownload.com/

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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