Web Sheriff Accuses Us Of Breaking Basically Every Possible Law For Pointing Out That It's Abusing DMCA Takedowns
from the but-i-didn't-shoot-the-deputy dept
Remember Web Sheriff? That's the wacky firm that claims it will send DMCA takedowns on your behalf or protect your online reputation by taking down stuff you don't like. The company is somewhat infamous for being a joke and not doing its job particularly well. A couple of weeks ago we wrote about the company abusing the DMCA to try to get Google to delist stories relating to that "celebrity threesome" media injunction in the UK that has been making news for a few months. We highlighted just how ridiculous this was on many accounts, including using a copyright takedown notice on an issue that wasn't about copyright at all. And they even tried to take down the company's own Zendesk request to remove content from Reddit.Well, suffice it to say that Web Sheriff was none too pleased with our article. Just a day after it went up, we received an email from "JP" at Web Sheriff (though it was "signed" by "John E. Henehan") telling us that we had basically violated all the laws with that post (shouting caps in the original):
UK CONTEMPT OF COURT ACT (CONTEMPT OF COURT NOTICE)Yeah, so, none of that is true. The email pretends to be a DMCA notice (among other things), but is not a valid notice in that it fails to actually name what copyright was infringed upon. Here's what it says is the "infringing materials" where you'll note despite quite a lot of SHOUTING TEXT, no actual materials are named.
CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION ARTICLE 1 §1 (INVASION OF PRIVACY NOTICE)
EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS ARTICLE 8 (INVASION OF PRIVACY NOTICE)
FEDERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATIONS (CRIMINAL DISCLOSURE NOTICE)
EU DATA PROTECTION DIRECTIVE (CRIMINAL DISCLOSURE NOTICE)
UK DATA PROTECTION ACT (CRIMINAL DISCLOSURE NOTICE)
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT (MALICIOUS COMMUNICATIONS NOTICE)
CALIFORNIA PENAL CODE §646.9 & §653.2 (MALICIOUS COMMUNICATIONS NOTICE)
CALIFORNIA CIVIL CODE § 1708.7 (MALICIOUS COMMUNICATIONS NOTICE)
UK COMMUNICATIONS ACT (MALICIOUS COMMUNICATIONS NOTICE)
UK PREVENTION OF HARASSMENT ACT (MALICIOUS COMMUNICATIONS NOTICE)
UK COMPUTER MISUSE ACT (MALICIOUS COMMUNICATIONS NOTICE)
DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT (COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT NOTICE)
EUROPEAN UNION COPYRIGHT DIRECTIVE (COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT NOTICE)
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION E-COMMERCE REGULATIONS (CONSUMER PROTECTION NOTICE)
EUROPEAN UNION E-COMMERCE DIRECTIVE (CONSUMER PROTECTION NOTICE)
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON CYBERCRIME (PROCEEDS OF CRIME & MONEY LAUNDERING NOTICE)
– and –
NOTICE OF BREACH OF ISP'S / HOST'S PUBLISHED TERMS OF SERVICE
NOTICE OF BREACH OF WEB-SITE'S PUBLISHED TERMS OF SERVICE
5. Infringing / Violating Materials : A. ILLEGALLY PUBLISHED PRIVATE INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES WHICH ARE THE SUBJECT OF AN INTERLOCUTORY INJUNCTION & ALLIED REPORTING RESTRICTIONS UPHELD BY THE SUPREME COURT OF THE HIGH COURTS OF JUSTICE, LONDON, ENGLAND (AND THE PUBLICATION OF WHICH CONTRAVENES & VIOLATES THE TERMS OF THE SAID INJUNCTION & REPORTING RESTRICTIONS), B. ILLEGALLY PUBLISHED PRIVATE INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES THAT VIOLATE INTERNATIONAL & DOMESTIC DATA PROTECTION LEGISLATION & TREATIES, C. ILLEGALLY PUBLISHED PRIVATE INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES THAT INFRINGE THE HUMAN RIGHTS / RIGHT-TO-PRIVACY OF THE SUBJECTS OF THE RELEVANT INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES, D. ILLEGALLY PUBLISHED PRIVATE INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES THAT INFRINGE THE RIGHT-OF-PUBLICITY OF THE PERTINENT SUBJECTS OF THE RELEVANT INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES, E. ILLEGALLY PUBLISHED PRIVATE INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES THAT INFRINGE THE PERSONAL GOODWILL & REPUTATION OF THE SUBJECTS OF THE RELEVANT INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES, F. ILLEGALLY PUBLISHED PRIVATE INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES THAT INFRINGE THE BUSINESS GOODWILL & REPUTATION OF THE SUBJECTS OF THE RELEVANT INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES, G. ILLEGALLY PUBLISHED PRIVATE INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES THAT VIOLATE INTERNATIONAL & DOMESTIC CONSUMER PROTECTION LEGISLATION & TREATIES, H. ILLEGALLY PUBLISHED PRIVATE INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES THAT VIOLATE INTERNATIONAL & DOMESTIC HARASSMENT, MALICIOUS COMMUNICATIONS & CYBER-STALKING LEGISLATION & TREATIES, I. ILLEGALLY PUBLISHED PRIVATE INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES THAT VIOLATE INTERNATIONAL & DOMESTIC PROCEEDS OF CRIME & MONEY LAUNDERING LEGISLATION & TREATIES, J. ILLEGALLY PUBLISHED & PIRATED COPYRIGHT CONTENT / IMAGES THAT INFRINGE THE COMPLAINANT'S COPYRIGHT, K. ILLEGALLY PUBLISHED PRIVATE INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES THE PUBLICATION OF WHICH BREACHES THE ISP'S / HOST'S PUBLISHED TERMS OF SERVICE & ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY, L. ILLEGALLY PUBLISHED PRIVATE INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES THE PUBLICATION OF WHICH BREACHES THE INFRINGING / VIOLATING WEB SITE'S PUBLISHED TERMS OF SERVICE & ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY (AS APPLICABLE – PLEASE SEE URL LIST BELOW).The email then goes on to try to explain how we broke all these laws and basically refuses to provide any details at all. I won't go through them all (you can see the full email published below), but just for fun, here's how we've been violating human rights:
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS (VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL & DOMESTIC HUMAN RIGHTS LEGISLATION AND TREATIES THROUGH FAILURE TO ABIDE BY RIGHT-TO-PRIVACY PURSUANT TO, INTER ALIA, ARTICLE 8 OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS & ARTICLE 1 §1 OF THE CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION AND WAY OF THE ILLEGAL PUBLICATION, DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION & EXPLOITATION OF PRIVATE INFORMATION WHICH IS THE SUBJECT OF A COURT INJUNCTION AND IN CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE THE SUBJECTS OF SUCH INFORMATION / DATA / IMAGES HAD A REASONABLE EXPECTATION OF AND LEGAL ENTITLEMENT TO PRIVACY)Or, my personal favorite -- money laundering:
PROCEEDS OF CRIME & MONEY LAUNDERING VIOLATIONS (VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL & DOMESTIC PROCEEDS OF CRIME & MONEY LAUNDERING LEGISLATION & TREATIES THROUGH THE HANDLING AND / OR LAUNDERING OF THE PROCEEDS OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY)Yes, that's right. Pointing out (accurately!) that Web Sheriff is trying to abuse the DMCA to take down material that is not subject to a copyright claim is -- in the demented views of Web Sheriff -- "money laundering."
There's also "harassment, malicious communications and cyber-stalking" where they can't even bother to name a statute:
HARASSMENT, MALICIOUS COMMUNICATIONS & CYBER-STALKING VIOLATIONS (VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL & DOMESTIC HARASSMENT, MALICIOUS COMMUNICATIONS & CYBER-STALKING LEGISLATION & TREATIES THROUGH THE POSTING OF MALICIOUS COMMUNICATIONS AND OTHERWISE THROUGH THE PUBLICATION OF MATERIALS WITH THE INTENTION TO WILFULLY & MALICIOUSLY HARASS)For added fun, twice in the email, the company notes that the email itself is covered by copyright, and then includes this bit of pure bullshit at the end:
This communication may not be disclosed or otherwise communicated to anyone other than the addressee(s), nor may it be copied or reproduced in any way without the written authorization of Web Sheriff®.Yeah, that's not how this works, though I wouldn't be surprised to see them send another email claiming otherwise.
For what it's worth, the very next day, we received another email from Web Sheriff that was basically identical, but demanding that we remove six comments on our earlier story about the UK injunction.
I do wonder if this kind of bullshit works for other people, in intimidating them to remove stuff from the internet because of the spaghetti/wall aspect of it all. But, rest assured, we're not concerned because Web Sheriff is full of shit here. We violated none of those laws, and the fact that the company is so focused on trying to censor an article that highlights its own bogus conduct should tell you a lot about what a complete joke this company is.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: celebrity threesome, censorship, copyright, dmca, injunction, uk
Companies: techdirt, web sheriff
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Which six?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Which six?
Pretty sure that's how that Elton John song goes.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Which six?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Still doesn't explain how it expects someone to obey laws outside their jurisdiction. I notice that for good measure they attempt to mix it up by adding US federal claims to the majority of Europe and UK claims; you know, just in case.
On the whole this whole thing has always felt scammy to me. If anything, it would be Web Sheriff that would be the one dealing with money laundering. After all you can bet they aren't accepting thanks as payment. It illustrates exactly why there needs to be some sort of punishment for false claims.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Hee hee. Reminds me of an old adage that states that the wrong you see in others is a reflection of yourself.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Going to court to defend yourself, or even just hiring a lawyer to do it for you is stressful, it's expensive, it's a huge eater of time. By throwing out every law they could think of it's pretty clear they hope to intimidate the target(TD/Mike in this case) into folding, hoping that the deluge of 'scary text' will be enough to get TD to overlook the fact that there's actually nothing backing up the threats.
From what I've heard before TD deals with threats like this(well, maybe not quite this over the top) on a fairly regular basis, so big words and mention of lots of laws isn't going to be effective, but a one-man 'team' running a smaller site that gets something like this? Such a threat letter is likely to be very effective indeed because even if the target knows they'd win if it went legal it's still much easier to just cave in, saving a lot of time and money in the process, time and money they might not have to defend themselves otherwise.
Remember, you don't actually have to be right to screw someone over in court, you just have to be willing to spend more than them, and a threat costs nothing but the time it takes to write it up, with no penalty if it doesn't work, so there's no reason not to try the empty threats route.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Art. 7.2. La ley no ampara el abuso del derecho o el ejercicio antisocial del mismo. Todo acto u omisión que por la intención de su autor, por su objeto o por las circunstancias en que se realice sobrepase manifiestamente los límites normales del ejercicio de un derecho, con daño para tercero, dará lugar a la correspondiente indemnización y a la adopción de las medidas judiciales o administrativas que impidan la persistencia en el abuso.
Rough translation (not literal):
The law doesn't cover people abusing their right, nor condones anti-social behavior regarding it. Any act, or omission, either because it's his intention, his purpose or because of the circumstances that exceeds the normal limits of the right, and is harmful to others, shall be stopped by judiciary or administrative means and shall warrant a compensation to the affected part.
As said, is a rough translation. But more or less it means that if you abuse your rights in some way, such as this case, it's punishable by law.
I guess that the US law doesn't have something like that (if it did, wrong DMCA notices would be punishable).
Still, it's one of those things that you aren't even aware about.
This guy is abusing his right to take down content, and even citing acts that aren't simply true (like cyber-stalking).
Shit, you should be the one suing him.
Still, it surprises that he just hasn't thrown you the whole civil and penal codes from multiple countries.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
"Because DMCA, fuck you, that's why!" - average_joe
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
As near as I can tell, they'd already had laws on the books about taking salmon out of season. That 1986 law appears to make "salmon laundering" illegal too.
I might have added "loan salmoning", but really, you were only borrowing a fin, not the whole salmon.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I think you are mistaken:
Uh, a legal document may be free for disclosure (unless privileged). But we are talking about an obvious fantasy genre parody of one here. As such, it clearly is the outcome of considerable creativity and rather than its form being mandated by necessity of the legal framework, it is an expression of pure creativity unconstrained by facts or laws.
So I don't see how you are free to republish this piece of fiction even if you have been sent a personal complimentary copy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I think you are mistaken:
http://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html
Seems that the use here falls into fair-use territory.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Much easier to just hit delete, unless of course you didn't have anything else to write about at the moment.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Instead of publishing them, Mike should just respond with an email apology and ask them to name a figure and send their bank account information. Then he can withdraw the named figure from their accounts. It would almost be legal. It would certainly be just.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Quite accurate!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"...WILFULLY & MALICIOUSLY HARASS..."
Oh, Web Sheriff, mocking your wackiness is like shooting fish in a bucket. Thanks for all the fish.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
These guys do everything half-assed
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: These guys do everything half-assed
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: These guys do everything half-assed
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: These guys do everything half-assed
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: These guys do everything half-assed
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
My only reply to such an email...
Next time you attempt to pull out a gun from your holster, you must remember to properly aim said gun before attempting to fire it.
P.S. If not, You'll shoot your eye out.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Citizen
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
There can be only one...
I am also curious about the organization listed as "Money Cult Network," which seems to have indulged in a little too much truth in naming with that one.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Web Sherrif is like a breath of fresh air
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
How did that make it past the spam filter?
Just looking at the email, I don't think it would make it past most spam filters.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
About those caps
Just copy/paste the notice in there and click 'Sentence caps'.
That'll make the thing readable without giving you a splitting headache...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: About those caps
Although they do get honorable mention for including "inter alia" in that mess. That's when I knew they were a real law firm.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Boiler plate
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
6 comments
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: 6 comments
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
NEW KEYBOARD
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: NEW KEYBOARD
Plus it's not hard to imagine "John E. Henehan", with each chemically imbalanced threat he sends, screaming "NOW YOU'RE PLAYING WITH POWER!!!"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: NEW KEYBOARD
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: NEW KEYBOARD
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yeah they're mostly a joke.
In the case of DMCA Force, as mentioned by another commenter, I've always imagined them walking into the office in slow motion while something explodes behind them and a non-infringing variation of the Power Rangers theme song is playing. "Go Go DMCA Force! You site-disabling DMCA Fo-orce!"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Like I said, "they" imagine it, but DMCA Force only dreams they could be as awesome as MegaForce.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Good Job
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
All that is missing from the is the red floppy hair, the over sized shoes and the red nose to put on their representative that will no doubt be delivering a subpoena any minute now.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
(in all caps because i'm dead serious)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
a new name
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: a new name
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I get kinda leery about people who think the web is some wild west TV show with Sheriffs and Bandits. He should really just name himself the Sheriff of Nottingham and be done with it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
MILITIA ACT OF 1862
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990
MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT OF 1918
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
that thing about monkeys and type writers is true. Almost.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Wrap her up
Maybe they should just catch a clue and give up, but sorry seems to be the hardest word.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Simple solution
Most legal teams in the UK are likely to be very, very, aware of it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Simple solution
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Simple solution
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Simple solution
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Jurisdiction
Think of it as going to a court in Virginia for a warrant and trying to use it in Oklahoma or New York. But I see you've been there, done that:-)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
You'd think a business would want to be represented professionally and not by a petulant 17 yr old screaming at the world demanding it change because they think it should.
They are actively wasting money and causing more harm to their brand using companies that operate in this fashion. Because while we are mocking this ill-conceived letter, its drawing even more attention to that thing you paid them to try and hide.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
They're incredibly sleazy and thuggish, but they are effective, and that's all that matters to the people hiring them.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What a Joke
As opposed to the name "Web Sheriff"?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
If you need to ask...
At $1000/hour or thereabouts for legal representation? Damn straight it intimidates people into removing stuff from the web. It's going to cost you around three grand just for your lawyer to have a good laugh after he reads that email.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Considering that TD reviews legal issues on the Internet as a profession,
Then bill them for services rendered every time they send you this shit. Then turn them out to credit collections, and then sue them.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Contempt of court and money laundering are the best.
But hey, maybe it's gone to Web Sheriff's collective heads that they're actually some kind of LEA. Judge, Jury and Executioner all-in-one just like Judge Dredd. :P
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Old Man Yells At Cloud
Really, really sad, but amazing just the same.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I was hoping...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Man oh man
Yeah, that's not how this works, though I wouldn't be surprised to see them send another email claiming otherwise.
It's stuff like this that's just going to make 'em madder... that whole Butterfly Effect thingie but with Stomping Feet :)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]