5 ms·

Part of the problem is that there are no criminal penalties for making false copyright claims as far as i know. A troll could be sued in civil court, but it's a

Part of the problem is that there are no criminal penalties for making false copyright claims as far as i know. A troll could be sued in civil court, but it's a long expensive process with non-negligible risk, and in practice individuals rarely attempt it because of the same asymmetries that enable patent trolls in the first place. What we need is an actual law that levies meaningful penalties for abuse. Maybe $100+ fine per invalid DMCA request, or 2x the demanded damages in lawsuits. That would at least help put a stop to shotgun blast automated takedowns, and inflated multimillion dollar claims designed to fleece teenagers and college students.

yummypaint 6y ago
I wonder if it would be possible to make a youtube competitor supported entirely by issuing fines for invalid copyright claims.
qppo 6y ago
The exact problem is that it puts the burden of proof on the accused, who has to fight the claim under penalty of perjury (while there is no reciprocal requirement for the accuser). The simple fix is to make false DMCA claims tantamount to perjury.
- wizzwizz4 6y ago
  Aren't they already literal perjury? (Or is that just the second, post-doxx phase?)
- ikeboy 6y ago
  DMCA claims already must be submitted under penalty of perjury. It's just rare to see prosecutions.
ikeboy 6y ago
DMCA notices are submitted under penalty of perjury, which means someone submitting false ones could be prosecuted criminally. We need an ambitious DA somewhere to enforce this, though. I've been tracking lawsuits for false DMCA or trademark/patent claims, there's been a rising number, but any litigation takes time and money. I would support a law with punitive damages for such offenses, as well as a law making clear that such conduct is not legally protected (IP abusers have argued they have 1st amendment rights to say whatever they want, or similar argument.) Note that it's sometimes possible to sue for antitrust violations, which carries a triple damages provision. I'm also currently attempting to get a RICO claim to work with an underlying wire fraud predicate, which would also lead to triple damages.
- tdeck 6y ago
  In some U.S. states it's still possible for a private citizen to prosecute a crime. I wonder if that could be applied to cases like this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prosecution?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prosecution?wprov=sfla...
  - ikeboy 6y ago
    I considered that. It should be fairly simple to find evidence in any particular state, just dig through Google's transparency reports. Would be fascinating to watch.

yummypaint 6y ago

I wonder if it would be possible to make a youtube competitor supported entirely by issuing fines for invalid copyright claims.

qppo 6y ago

The exact problem is that it puts the burden of proof on the accused, who has to fight the claim under penalty of perjury (while there is no reciprocal requirement for the accuser). The simple fix is to make false DMCA claims tantamount to perjury.

wizzwizz4 6y ago
Aren't they already literal perjury? (Or is that just the second, post-doxx phase?)
ikeboy 6y ago
DMCA claims already must be submitted under penalty of perjury. It's just rare to see prosecutions.

ikeboy 6y ago

DMCA notices are submitted under penalty of perjury, which means someone submitting false ones could be prosecuted criminally. We need an ambitious DA somewhere to enforce this, though. I've been tracking lawsuits for false DMCA or trademark/patent claims, there's been a rising number, but any litigation takes time and money. I would support a law with punitive damages for such offenses, as well as a law making clear that such conduct is not legally protected (IP abusers have argued they have 1st amendment rights to say whatever they want, or similar argument.) Note that it's sometimes possible to sue for antitrust violations, which carries a triple damages provision. I'm also currently attempting to get a RICO claim to work with an underlying wire fraud predicate, which would also lead to triple damages.

tdeck 6y ago
In some U.S. states it's still possible for a private citizen to prosecute a crime. I wonder if that could be applied to cases like this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prosecution?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prosecution?wprov=sfla...
- ikeboy 6y ago
  I considered that. It should be fairly simple to find evidence in any particular state, just dig through Google's transparency reports. Would be fascinating to watch.