Re: Google Blinks, and Today the Internet is a Little Less Free

["David Farber" <dave () farber net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Synthesis:Law and Technology Law and Technology [mailto:synthesis.law.and.technology () gmail com]
Sent: Wed 10/17/2007 9:25 AM
To: David Farber
Subject: Re: [IP] Google Blinks, and Today the Internet is a Little Less Free
 
Dave,

With respect I consider Dewayne's post a bit alarmist.

Yes it may temporarily (and I stress the word temporarily) deter some
people.

But for how long?  The internet is full of very creative people.
And perhaps even more important, with dual and quad core processors
proliferating on the desktop most people will have the processing power to
implement any one of a thousand possible workarounds?
It may put YouTube out of the frontrunner spot in internet video but it will
not kill internet video.  I am sure that the intent of the master reference
database was more than just Youtube.  It was most certainly to also
facilitate takedowns and removal wherever content is being stored. "That's
our movie. See, its in the reference database as ID#423595843.  Remove it
please".

But just as this will work for a short time it will most surely fall prey to
inventive minds.
What is to stop an encrypted service?  What is to stop a service that
performs a transform on the data and allows the user to do a reverse
transform just before viewing?
I would not try it on a P90 but anything recent?  Shouldnt be too strenuous.


In the interim I look forward to seeing all the creative testing and
re-engineering of the "match" algorithm.  Since there are way more YouTube
users than IPhone users I expect fairly rapid results.


Dan Steinberg

SYNTHESIS:Law & Technology
35, du Ravin phone: (613) 794-5356
Chelsea, Quebec
J9B 1N1


On 10/17/07, David Farber <dave () farber net> wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
> Date: October 16, 2007 5:28:49 PM EDT
> To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Google Blinks, and Today the Internet is a
> Little Less Free
>
> Google Blinks, and Today the Internet is a Little Less Free
>
>
> Submitted by Gigi Sohn on October 15, 2007 - 3:14pm.
> <http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1217>
> Just a few moments ago, YouTube introduced the beta version of its
> "video identification" system, the purpose of which is to control the
> amount of infringing material that appears on the site. Under
> enormous pressure from movie studios and record labels and their
> friends on Capitol Hill to filter out copyrighted material, and with
> the Viacom lawsuit looming, You Tube's parent Google has developed a
> tool that will likely restrict the flow of legal content over the
> Internet, and absolutely raises the bar for each and every entity
> that serves as a conduit for copyrighted works.
>
> Here is how the system works: A copyright holder uploads its works
> into a reference database, which then generates identification files
> by which uploaded videos are matched. When a user uploads a video
> onto YouTube, that video is matched with the identification file. If
> there is a "match" (more on that later), then the video is subject to
> whatever action the rights holder has decided to apply to it; for
> example, it could be blocked, "tracked" or "monetized." If the video
> is blocked, the user will be notified, and can immediately contest
> the claim by clicking onto a link. Once YouTube receives the user
> contest, it will put the video back on the site. At that point,
> notice and takedown provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright
> Act (DMCA) would kick in. If the copyright holder continues to want
> the video removed, it would have to send a takedown notice required
> by the DMCA. The user can send a counter-notice, whereupon the video
> would be reinstated, etc.
>
> This being the beta version of the system, there are still a lot of
> kinks to work out. Chief among them is the definition of what
> constitutes a "match." We were told at a briefing that a few seconds
> would be insufficient for a match, but not much else. Right now,
> YouTube limits videos to 10 minutes, but it seems unlikely that
> YouTube will adopt a minimum of that length. Where YouTube sets this
> minimum may be the single most important factor to determine whether
> there will be a proliferation of false positives, that is, legal
> content blocked by the copyright holder.
>
> While YouTube should be be praised for making it easy for a user to
> contest a block, it should also recognize that permitting a copyright
> holder to have "block" as a default setting will likely limit the
> free flow of legal content over the Internet. Regardless of whether
> their use of copyrighted material is legal or fair use (such as
> commentary or criticism, which can legally use large portions of
> copyrighted works), many users will simply give up after being
> blocked (particularly if they fear a possible lawsuit). Or others may
> not bother to post to YouTube at all. This is why it is critically
> important that when YouTube sends notices to those users who do get
> blocked, that they also provide information about users rights,
> including fair use, so users can make an intelligent choice about
> whether to challenge their accusers.
>
> YouTube was also not clear about exactly what it would mean for a
> copyright holder to be "tracked." Rights holders would have a special
> portal that would tell them how many times matched content is viewed
> and how many times their content is blocked. According to YouTube,
> the only personal information the rights holder would get is the
> email address of the user if they contest the blocking of
> information. But keeping in mind the recording industry's failed
> battle to get personal information about P2P file sharers from
> Verizon, you can believe that the content industry will want to use
> this tool to get as much personally identifying information as
> possible from YouTube.
>
> [snip]
>
>
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