Running for office? Embarrassed by YouTube videos that make fun of you or show you looking like an ass? YouTube will give you up to 14 days' worth of censorship for free -- all you need to do is pretend that the video infringes your copyright and invoke the DMCA. EFF wants to change that.

  • Cowicide

    Seems like yet another great excuse to send the EFF some more dollars…

    https://supporters.eff.org/donate

  • EH

    To be sure, the 14 days of censorship only transpire if the person being censored doesn’t do anything.

    • http://plankhead.com Zacqary Adam Green

       Or if the service provider’s legal department has a backlog.

    • morcheeba

      Actually, it’s the other way around. If the person being censored does nothing, then the information remains censored indefinitely. If the person files a counterclaim, then it’s still off-line for 10-14 days after that counterclaim is filed.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_Copyright_Infringement_Liability_Limitation_Act#Ineffective_Counter-Notice_Procedure

      • EH

        I see your point about permanent censorship, but is there really a 10 day minimum if, say, notice is forwarded the same day and a counterclaim is filed in short order?

        • morcheeba

          Yep. 512 g 2 C makes the 10-14 day period explicit:

          “…replaces the removed material and ceases disabling access to it not less than 10, nor more than 14, business days following receipt of the counter notice”

          That’s one of the big criticisms of the DMCA – alleged infringement has to be taken down as soon as possible (hours), while putting data back online is slower (by design, to allow the alleged copyright holder to seek a traditional court order)

          http://w2.eff.org/IP/DMCA/hr2281_dmca_law_19981020_pl105-304.html

  • http://vertigo25.tumblr.com/ vertigo25

    My only beef is that they kind of make it out that this is just done during the election cycle. As someone who watches a lot of atheist and political videos (and have made a few of my own), I can assure you, this happens *all* the time.

    YouTube does not even review DMCA claims unless the person who has been taken down files a counterclaim (despite the fact that they say they do). I’ve seen countless videos of 100% original content be taken down by false DMCA claims. They also have a policy to shut down channels who have received too many claims… whether the claims were valid or not.

    And it’s not just used to shut down a message that someone doesn’t like, but also frequently done to obtain personal information on people, because you need to enter that info to file a counterclaim.

    Theoretically, it is illegal to file false DMCA claims, but I’ve yet to see anyone be charged with anything.

    • The Rizz

      So, maybe it’s time for us to start using this against Big Politics, and filing DMCA shutdowns against THEIR websites. We could take RickSantorum.com off the list entirely so RickSantorumIsANazi.com can be top dog on the Google searches for a while…

    • Manny

      “And it’s not just used to shut down a message that someone doesn’t like, but also frequently done to obtain personal information on people, because you need to enter that info to file a counterclaim.”

      This is even nastier than red-tape censorship. This puts a real threat into it.

  • http://twitter.com/polfilmblog Political Film Blog
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  • dummy12345148

    Do a DOS attach making radom claims on random pages and see if Youtube will be able to handle the backlash and create an artifical backlog. That will surely crash their “sensor” system. See how much customers they loose then.