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HBO Asks Google To Take Down "Infringing" VLC Media Player

Posted by timothy on from the trial-balloon-and-a-harpoon dept.

another random user writes with an excerpt from TorrentFreak: "It's no secret that copyright holders are trying to take down as much pirated content as they can, but their targeting of open source software is something new. In an attempt to remove pirated copies of Game of Thrones from the Internet, HBO sent a DMCA takedown to Google, listing a copy of the popular media player VLC as a copyright infringement. An honest mistake, perhaps, but a worrying one. ... Usually these notices ask Google to get rid of links to pirate sites, but for some reason the cable network also wants Google to remove a link to the highly popular open source video player VLC. ... The same DMCA notice also lists various other links that don't appear to link to HBO content, including a lot of porn related material, Ben Harper's album Give Till It's Gone, Naruto, free Java applets and Prince of Persia 5."

4 of 364 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Google vs HBO? Not even close by FunkyLich · · Score: 5, Informative

    I certainly am going to be modded down, but it is about time I explained that "GFY" stands for "Go Fuck Yourself".

    Always with love from the Whole Internet.

  2. Re:VLC is illegal in the USA by Urban+Garlic · · Score: 5, Informative

    As you hint at, it's the libdvdcss capability that's the main problem under anti-circumvention provisions of the US DMCA.

    You can get versions of VLC which only use FOSS and patent-unencumbered codecs. Debian used to (maybe still does, I haven't looked in a while) make this distinction pretty clear, the "main" packaged VLC was unencumbered, and you had to go outside the main package tree to get the other stuff.

    So, in most practical installations, you're right, but it's not literally true that "VLC is illegal in the US."

    --
    2*3*3*3*3*11*251
  3. Re:Penalties by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    They aren't. The perjury clause only guards the representation claim, where the DMCA notice is sent by a lawyer. It does not guard the actual copyright claim, which is made "in good faith".

  4. Re:three strikes by GoogleShill · · Score: 4, Informative

    A lot of states do not let felons vote, and it is a terrible thing. I don't see how one should be forced to pay taxes when they have no say in how the government is run.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony_disenfranchisement