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Fox Subpoenas YouTube Over Content
popo writes "FOX has subpoenaed YouTube for the identity of a user who posted entire episodes of '24' and 'The Simpson's'. It is not yet known whether YouTube has complied with the request. The '24' episodes in question actually appeared on YouTube prior to their primetime January 14 premiere on the Fox broadcast network, which spread four hourlong episodes of the hit drama over two consecutive nights. Fox became aware the episodes were on YouTube on January 8, according to the subpoena."
....when they have Jack Bauer? I mean, Chuck Norris prays to the guy before bed.
FOX has subpoenaed YouTube for the identity of a user who posted entire episodes of '24' and 'The Simpson's'.
Yeah, they're looking for him so he can star in an upcoming show on CourtTV.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
This isn't about your typical copyright infringement. This is about an inside job since that's the only way those files would have made it to YouTube. I have a feeling that if found, the person responsible will first be fired, then sued out the whazoo and sent to debtor's prison.
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
Kiefer Sutherland learned how to use the internet, and took the "post your own videos!" thing a bit overboard.
Great Intellect...
That's beside the point, though. Once Jack finds out that there is some person somewhere acting unlawfully against him, all civil laws and the Geneva Conventions will be ignored in his quest to find them. With in the first hour of Bauer's angerment, he will see the news and say "damn it!" then proceed to use his ties with Rupert Murdoch to gain access to Larry Page's dog, Foo-Foo. Using CTU personnel that are risking their own jobs to do it, he will find Larry's home address. 20 minutes into the episode, Bauer will have interrogated Foo-Foo and have the dog's head in a basket and be in route to Larry's home.
Meanwhile, the terorrist ECOTotal will be sitting on the couch munching on Dorritos laughing at a family on Geraldo.
At the half way point, Jack knocks on Larry's door as an innocuous deliveray boy carrying a sidearm and a basket dripping with blood. When Larry opens the door, Jack throws the poodle's head at him and pushes him inside with a gun to Larry's head. Interrogation and dialogue of the lowest calibre ensues. Larry Page is left unable to father children.
Meanwhile, ECOTotal is looking on eBay for their new SLR lens.
Jack interrogates Larry to a bloody pulp and finds out that ECOTotal is really a 16 year old high school student dabbling in photography and computer video processing.
The clock is ticking but by the end of the episode the Muslim terrorist ECOTotal is dead and the Chinese government is involved for some reason
--
Does anyone else see this over the top action as becoming laughable as Walker, Texas Ranger? I mean, the last tag line I heard on a Fox commercial was "All hail the power of Bauer!" What the hell?
My work here is dung.
This is about an inside job since that's the only way those files would have made it to YouTube.
You don't have to be an insider to pull this stunt--you only need equipment that is no longer commonly available. TV programming is sent from network HQ to affiliate stations electronically via satellite, sometimes hours to several days before scheduled broadcast. You do not need to be an employee of either the station or the network to receive a satellite signal. I used to regularly watch episodes of Star Trek DS9 up to three days before they aired on "real" TV.
Wild feeds, or "occasional video transponders" are still commonly sent in unencrypted form so anyone can get them. However nobody knows when they are broadcasting or what the content is unless you are an employee. Sometimes if you watch the feeds you can pick out a pattern that seems like a regular schedule, but sometimes it shifts around. Also, episodes may be broadcast in wild feeds out of sequence. Furthermore, they are not broadcast in the same way as the most commonplace digital satellite systems--they are typically analogue and in a different frequency band--in the US they are on C band satellites. Most people who want satellite TV want the little dish hanging off the eaves, not a ten-foot C-band dish that obscures half of your yard (and you'd have to be in a rural setting for it to even be permitted). Wild feeds in Canada are commonly in Ku band as well, which permits a slightly smaller dish but still not appealing to anyone but enthusiasts.
Fox has a larger hunt on their hands and it IS a typical copyright violation case. Hence, the subpoena of Google/YouTube.
Stupid of broadcasters to still broadcast in the clear like that, but there is some technological inertia in every industry...
I look forward to www.0daytube.com.
If he posted the commercials, would they still care?
-- if you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine
Sorry, I read your comment but I'm not quite sure I'm following. I popped open the Wikipedia entry on the subject and it noted that "it does not guarantee to people the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures conducted by private citizens or organizations" but only those from the government.
Further, IANAL, but doesn't the search seem specific (we want the information for this _one_ fellow here) and contain probable cause (his name uploaded copyrighted material)?
Sorry, I'm interested in the issue, but I'm not quite sure I see how this ties in to the 4th amendment, would you mind clarifying what you meant?
FYI, it has also been reported that this episode appeared on Bit Torrent prior to it's appearance on YouTube. Odds are this guy was just a moron / 3rd rate P2P pirate. Hassling him probably won't highlight the source of the leak.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
This is a slam dunk subpoena of an individual who grossly violated copyright laws, and probably (once his identity is confirmed) trade secret laws.
Dollars to Doughnuts says that Google's laywers took one look at the subpoena and went "Here you go"
Test your net with Netalyzr
The first rule of usenet is that you don't talk about usenet.
Oh, shit.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
...there is always a mole. Fox will no doubt be surprised when the last four episodes reveal him to be Rupert Murdoch himself. But they'll only find that out through torturing this poor kid first.
Not stolen. Nothing has been removed from possession of its owner.
Infringing.
Actually, "stealing" is correct term.
You infringe the copyright of a published work.
You steal an unpublished work.
If you haven't published something, you still own it entirely, with all rights of ownership...not just the rights of copy and distribution. If someone makes a copy of your unpublished manuscript, you have lost something real and valuable: the right of introduction. You can no longer monetize the debut of your work, for that right was stolen.