NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] YouTube rejects UMG demand - Megaupload Mega Song returns
YouTube rejects UMG demand - Megaupload Mega Song returns http://j.mp/sTdXEE (This message on Google+) - - - In our last installment of "How to Wreck the Internet," I noted the continuing battle of takedowns by Universal Music Group related to the "Megaupload Mega Song" ( http://j.mp/s1pqmU [YouTube] - RESTORED). When we left the busy UMG legal team, they were claiming that their takedowns of the video from YouTube were not necessarily DMCA-related copyright issues per se, but rather were tied to "other contractual arrangements" with Google/YouTube - http://j.mp/uy1Fgp (ars technica). Google has now responded, saying: "Our partners do not have the right to take down videos from YT unless they own the rights to them or they are live performances controlled through exclusive agreements with their artists, which is why we reinstated it." - http://j.mp/svcKMl (WebProNews) And indeed, the video, now with over 2M views (the "Streisand Effect" strikes again!) is back up at the link noted above. Leaving aside all the technical reasons why SOPA would be devastating to Internet security, reliability, and connectivity, this UMG case also demonstrates the sheer lunancy of the SOPA approach. Unlike in this case where a single video was involved, SOPA creates the ability to kill entire domains based on similar arbitrary and flawed claims, and in its current form at least, doesn't even include the basic counter-notice provisions of DMCA. UMG should perhaps be thanked for unwittingly providing this anti-SOPA object lesson at this critical time. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org Founder: - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com _______________________________________________ nnsquad mailing list http://lists.nnsquad.org/mailman/listinfo/nnsquad