BlogHer - net neutrality - Comments

Update: McCain fights for a DMCA exception

Laura Scott — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:16:35 -0500

This happened last week, so sorry I missed it before posting the article. John McCain is fighting for special treatment of his video ads on YouTube. Thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which McCain voted for, YouTube has a strict policy of taking down videos that copyright owners claim violate their copyright. The McCain videos contain snippets from broadcast news shows, and those shows have complained. (Barack Obama's ads often use news snippets, too, and YouTube has taken those ads down, too.)

Liz Gannes of GigaOm writes on the NYTimes blog:

YouTube quickly takes videos offline after receiving takedown notices, however, it does allow video uploaders to file counternotices. But the site does not repost a video until 10-14 days after receipt of a counternotice — too late in the land of politics, says the McCain campaign. It also does not allow users to repost an edited version of a video under the same URL on which it was originally hosted....

...While the suggestion that takedown notices should be more carefully reviewed is something many have championed, most prominently the Electronic Frontier Foundation, given his position as a powerful U.S. legislator, McCain’s request for special treatment is somewhat ironic. The takedown notice procedures are defined by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which McCain voted for along with the rest of the Senate, which passed the bill by unanimous vote in 1998....

...The McCain letter argues, “[N]othing in the DMCA requires a host like YouTube to comply automatically with takedown notices, while blinding itself to their legal merit (or, as here, their lack thereof).” Still, as Mike Masnick suggests at Techdirt, McCain should promise to push for a change to the DMCA that protects sites like YouTube for keeping content up after receiving takedown notices that they’ve determined are not warranted.

In another post, Saul Hansell posts excerpts from YouTube's reply to the McCain campaign:

We try to be careful not to favor one category of content on our site over others, and to treat all of our users fairly, regardless of whether they are an individual, a large corporation or a candidate for public office….

On a final note, we hope that as a content uploader, you have gained a sense of some of the challenges we face everyday in operating YouTube. We look forward to working with Senator (or President) McCain on ways to combat abuse of the D.M.C.A. takedown process on YouTube, including, by way of example, strengthening the fair use doctrine….

[Hansell adds:]

Gigi Sohn, the president of the digital rights group Public Knowledge, used the incident to argue that copyright law gives too much power to the copyright holders:

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (D.M.C.A.) was originally designed by, and for, the big media companies. The concepts of fair use then, as now, are largely ignored or shuffled off to the side when any Congressional discussion of copyright law takes place. The D.M.C.A. passed in 1998 without a hint of opposition in the House and in the Senate. YouTube was abiding by the rules that Congress set up when it took down the videos about which the McCain/Palin campaign complained.

And Fred von Lohmann, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, challenged the campaign’s proposed solution:

It assumes that YouTube should prioritize the campaigns’ fair use rights, rather than those of the rest of us. That seems precisely backwards, since the most exciting new possibilities on YouTube are for amateur political expression by the voters themselves. After all, the campaigns have no trouble getting the same ads out on television and radio, options not available to most YouTubers.

Protecting our freedom

Virginia DeBolt — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:17:23 -0500

We've seen in the past that freedoms we took for granted can quietly disappear under the guise of national security or business needs. I think protecting equal access to the internet is a really important issue and am happy to see you writing about it.

Virginia DeBolt
BlogHer Technology Contributing Editor
Web Teacher
First 50 Words

Just discovered your blog; thanks for the mention

Beth Wellington — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:09:11 -0500

'Preciate it. I also have some articles on the FCC at llrx.com.

Important we do not lose sight

Maria Niles — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:30:29 -0500

This issue is important and we must make sure that the spotlight continues to shine on it. Thanks for covering it so well, Virginia (and I'm not just saying because of the link love).

I was heartened a bit by this recent article which seems to indicate that Comcast is listening and conceding the tiniest bit to public demand. It could be though that they are just trying to figure out how to get what they want in a manner that doesn't provoke outcry. However, I think that day and age is long gone. Someone will blog it!

Addendum: comcast gets sued over this

Virginia DeBolt — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 12:19:33 -0600

Here's an article about a California man who is suing Comcast over the Bit Torrent part of this article:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/11/comcast-sued-ov.html

http://www.webteacher.ws/
http://first50.wordpress.com/

Thanks

Virginia DeBolt — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 07:19:50 -0500

That's good news, Skye, thanks.

http://www.webteacher.ws/
http://first50.wordpress.com/

Done!

Skye — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:15:56 -0500

Thanks for the tip, Virginia.
__

Flooded Lizard Kingdom
All Access Blogging
Heroine Content

good for you

Virginia DeBolt — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 10:32:31 -0500

I hope you are at the head of a long parade.

http://www.webteacher.ws/
http://first50.wordpress.com/

If I had a hammer...

Mary Clare Hunt — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:18:06 -0500

Virginia - well said! Thank you for keeping the Net Neutrality issue in front of us. The only reason that we're seeing all these social changes on the planet today, is because anyone with an opinion can post it. I'm hoping over to Save the Internet now.

(Have to admit I've wanted to take my own hammer to other "service" providers.)