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RIAA Calls YouTube-Viacom Decision Bad Public Policy
adeelarshad82 writes "The Recording Industry Association of America voiced its opposition to the recent decision in the YouTube-Viacom copyright infringement case, stating that 'the district court's dangerously expansive reading of the liability immunity provisions of the [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] upsets the careful balance struck within the law and is bad public policy.' Cary Sherman, RIAA president, also wrote in a blog post, 'It will actually discourage service providers from taking steps to minimize the illegal exchange of copyrighted works on their sites.'"
'It will actually discourage service providers from taking steps to minimize the illegal exchange of copyrighted works on their sites.'
YES, THAT'S THE POINT. If you (the RIAA) want to police that crap, do it on your dime. The Service providers don't know jack about who owns what, and is not their responsibility.
The DMCA does not make the exchange legal or illegal; rather, it provides a mechanism that allows ISPs to host user-uploaded content without liability for copyright infringement, provided the procedures are followed with respect to takedown notices. A person who makes infringing copies is still liable for making those copies, regardless of whether the copies are uploaded to an ISP, sold on the street, etc. Of course, not all copies are infringing (though the RIAA would probably disagree with this last statement).