Slashdot Mirror
US Air Force Issues DMCA Takedown Notice
palegray.net writes "Threat Level brings us the story of the US Air Force's use of the DMCA to forcibly remove a 'Cyber Command' recruitment video that they had previously thanked Threat Level for running. The article notes that US government works are not even subject to copyright, but this fact didn't stop YouTube from caving and taking down the video."
Doesn't the lawyer signing the DMCA takedown notice have to swear under the threat of perjury that their information is accurate to the best of their knowledge? I think it is time we start targeting the individuals who are signing these notices. The government can't shield these lawyers in a civil suit if they committed perjury in the course of their duties. If we sue and bankrupt enough of these lawyers then perhaps the government will find it harder to get replacements who will send DMCA notices over materials that belong to the public domain.
Why WOULDNT YouTube take the video down? They win government props, all-important in our era of growing corporatism, and maybe piss off the EFF and a few Slashdotters. 99.44% of the YouTube customer base does not even know what the DMCA _is_. It's nice to be indignant about it, but get real.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Yeah. Just because you paid for it doesn't mean you should get to use it.
This isn't about censorship, or even copyright really. Youtube will 'cave' to any polite request to have a movie taken down, provided you can give some creds to prove you made it. This is much more an issue of common courtesy, but then, that doesn't make for pop journalism.
This has also been covered by Boing Boing.
According to TFA, the notice was issued by the Air Force's lawyers, without the consultation or authorisation of the guy who deals with all IP issues.
According to Wikipedia, they are meant to be good enough lawyers to know better, but the talk page had been deleted, so maybe there's just been a big slanging match.
Technically, yes, many people will avoid quibbling over legal details when dealing with a heavily armed organisation that thinks it's above the law.
In the same way, it takes bravery to say no when mafia or radical religious groups issue a "take down notice".
Before this takedown notice no one really gave two shits about the video. Now, EVERYONE wants to see it to see what the deal is. The best part, this was not intended. This is someone stepping out of their bounds and not going through the Public Affairs Office.
Now of course the US Air Force might be backing away from the video because in hindsight it makes them look stupid and childish but, it still exists and the US public is legally entitled to know what the US Air Force has in mind when it comes to disrupting and endangering their computer networks.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Spoken like somebody who has little experience working on government contracts ;-) Without reading the full details of the contract, it could be almost anything.
No, but the government building something using Linux isn't the same as the government *commissioning* Linux (too late for that). The work on top of Linux that the government commissioned would be public domain, not Linux. You're confusing existing copyrights with the commissioning of a new work paid for by the taxpayer.
One CPU cycle wasted on digital restrictions management is ONE TOO MANY.
They probably also licensed music to use in the video, which was not licensed for that particular usage (i.e. dissemination over the internet). While the Air Force might not own the copyright, there may be copyrighted material in it.
Do you have ESP?
Bingo. Anyone can file a DMCA takedown notice and per the law the provider must act. However, that same provider has to respond in kind if the claimed infringer challenges the copyright claim. Bottom line: Wired dropped the ball on this one by hosting on their own servers and not taking Youtube to task.
"On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"