[ NNSquad ] EFF: Lawsuit Against YouTube Threatens Global Growth of Political Speech

[Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>]

----- Forwarded message from Dave Farber <dfarber@me.com> -----

Date: Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:37:14 -0400
From: Dave Farber <dfarber@me.com>
Subject: [IP] EFF: Lawsuit Against YouTube Threatens Global Growth of
	Political Speech
Reply-To: dave@farber.net
To: ip <ip@listbox.com>




Begin forwarded message:

> From: EFF Press <press@eff.org>
> Date: April 7, 2011 4:26:54 PM EDT
> To: presslist@eff.org
> Subject: [E-B] EFF: Lawsuit Against YouTube Threatens Global Growth of Political	Speech
> Reply-To: press@eff.org
> 

> Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release
> 
> For Immediate Release: Thursday, April 07, 2011
> 
> Contact:
> 
> Corynne McSherry
>  Intellectual Property Director
>  Electronic Frontier Foundation
>  corynne@eff.org
>  +1 415 436-9333 x122
> 
> Abigail Phillips
>  Senior Staff Attorney
>  Electronic Frontier Foundation
>  abigail@eff.org
>  +1 415 436-9333 x147
> 
> Lawsuit Against YouTube Threatens Global Growth of
> Political Speech
> 
> Legal Attack on Online Video Site Could Throttle Innovation
> with Fears of Litigation
> 
> San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
> and a coalition of advocacy groups have asked a federal
> appeals court to reject attempts to thwart federal
> copyright law and saddle online communities with new
> litigation fears in the appeal of Viacom v. YouTube.
> 
> In an amicus brief filed Thursday, EFF argues that the
> infringement claims made by Viacom and the other plaintiffs
> threaten to undermine the "safe harbor" provisions of the
> Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) -- safe harbors
> that have fostered free speech and innovation around the
> globe.  Without the clear legal structure of the DMCA
> process, companies that host user-generated expression
> could be hit with potentially massive damage awards, which
> would encourage over-blocking of content or even the
> shutdown of services altogether.
> 
> "If the DMCA safe harbors are undermined in the way Viacom
> and the other content companies would like, the free flow
> of information will be seriously threatened," said EFF
> Senior Staff Attorney Abigail Phillips.  "Communications
> platforms like YouTube have enabled political and other
> speech to flourish online.  We've all seen the critical
> role digital communications have been playing in protests
> across the Middle East.  The safe harbors make posting of
> user-generated content like this possible."
> 
> At issue in this case is copyright infringement on YouTube
> before the online video service voluntarily implemented
> content filtering technologies in May of 2008.  The
> district court correctly found that YouTube was shielded by
> the DMCA safe harbors, and Viacom and others appealed the
> ruling to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
> 
> "All the online services you use every day -- Facebook,
> Twitter, Amazon, eBay -- depend on the DMCA safe harbors in
> order to allow user-generated content on their sites," said
> EFF Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry.
> "That's why Congress designed the safe harbors -- to allow
> innovators to manage legal risk and develop new services
> without fear of devastating litigation, while offering
> copyright owners an expedited process for taking down
> infringing content.  Viacom's arguments here misinterpret
> the law, with potentially disastrous results."
> 
> Also joining EFF's brief are the International Federation
> of Library Associations and Institutions, the American
> Library Association, the Association of College and
> Research Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries,
> and the Center for Democracy and Technology.
> 
> For the full amicus brief:
> https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/viacom_v_youtube/ViacomvGoogleAmicus.pdf
> 
> For more on this case:
> http://www.eff.org/cases/viacom-v-youtube
> 
> For this release:
> https://www.eff.org/press/archives/2011/04/07
> 
> About EFF
> 
> The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
> liberties organization working to protect rights in the
> digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
> challenges industry and government to support free
> expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
> organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
> websites in the world at https://www.eff.org/
> 
> 
> 
> 
>    -end-
> 
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