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Google Removes Links in Response to DMCA Complaint
dioscaido writes "If you search Google for Kazaa Lite, you'll find the results a bit lacking. Ironically enough, Sharman Networks, using the DMCA, filed a legal complaint to block Kazaa Lite sites. " Google links the DMCA request at the end of the results which contain the URLs in question, but the URLs aren't really the point. It's scary that the DMCA makes URLs a copyright violation. How long before libraries can't index books? Or own them?
When I installed the latest version of KazaaLite it automatically copied the installation file into my shared folder. Just search for klitekpp242e.exe on Kazaa.
It's a good source for information on exactly this subject. No, I don't run it. ;-)
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
This has happened before. I don't think the DMCA complaint was very effective that time, either.
I thought the RIAA had a part in this, noticing references to Kazaa and DMCA. I find it a little unusual that Sharman had a part in it. Oddly enough the links are still quite available, and search results now point to K++ (a better Kazaa derivative), and the original links are still available. Seems almost like a "Screw you" gesture by google to Sharman if you ask me. Just goes to show that once the cat is out of the bag on the net, its almost impossible to recover it.
Because you expose yourself to a lawsuit by whomever you complained about every time you make a bogus claim. A small handful of users won't have enough resources to sue the RIAA, but the major ISPs would certainly help their users file a class action lawsuit against you...
Searching for "Kazaa" gives a Kazaa Lite link in the 4th position, and "Kazaa Lite" gives lots of KL links. I don't know if this means they've changed their minds or if the original change just hasn't propagated everywhere yet.
You know this looks like big brother authoritive business. I mean when I look at this I see the DCMA group attack sites that have little or no involment with p2p sites. I mean its like attacking puppies with a lawn mower. Our right as a citizen are being violated by big business, who are attemping to control our lives. Its like the Futurama episode where they put advertisements in your dreams. Any ways Congress real research, and better information then to listen to people like the MPAA and the RIAA.
Because the domain is owned by Google Inc, not by an English entity that could be held responsible. The same for the netblock. So it's effectively just an USAian site which happens to have a pointer to it that ends in co.uk.
0x or or snor perron?!
Score: Google 1
Kazaa 0
DMCA 0
It seems that once again it's time to place Blue ribbons on our websites and webpages...
Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.
This may explain it.
It may also explain why the latest release of KazaaLite is labelled "K++".
As Jonathan Swift said:
"So, naturalists observe, a flea
Has smaller fleas that on him prey;
And these have smaller still to bite 'em;
And so proceed ad infinitum."
Ceci n'est pas une signature
The Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789 allows it.
The act gives Federal jusidiction over "any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States." The ATCA can be used via proxy by non-US entities as long as they can establish some reasonable connection to a US entity, such as relatives (in the case of people) or parents/subsidiaries (in the case of companies). Since copyright is covered in numerous treaties, particularly the Berne Convention, it is open season.
DMCA was signed by President Clinton.
At the bottom of the Google results page is the statement saying that some results were filtered out and a link to the DMCA complaint. The complaint has all the links there in plain text. It is also hosted on chillingeffects.org, with links to explanations of the complaint's details.
Google have done ok. They make sure that you know the search has been censored. The links that are missing are available via cut and paste. If you didn't know what the DMCA was before, Google link to a site which will tell you more than you wanted to know, and from a sceptical point of view.
Alltheweb doesn't quite have a Google Groups or a News Google equivalent (only news search; no headline parser), but the regular search is pretty cool.
More than mere navel gazing.