Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Dropbox's New Policy of Scanning Files For DMCA Issues

Posted by samzenpus on from the lets-see-what-you-have-there dept.

Advocatus Diaboli (1627651) writes "This weekend a small corner of the Internet exploded with concern that Dropbox was going too far, actually scanning users' private and directly peer-shared files for potential copyright issues. What's actually going on is a little more complicated than that, but shows that sharing a file on Dropbox isn't always the same as sharing that file directly from your hard drive over something like e-mail or instant messenger. The whole kerfuffle started yesterday evening, when one Darrell Whitelaw tweeted a picture of an error he received when trying to share a link to a Dropbox file with a friend via IM. The Dropbox web page warned him and his friend that 'certain files in this folder can't be shared due to a takedown request in accordance with the DMCA.'"

6 of 243 comments (clear)

  1. Later Dropbox! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Its been nice while it lasted, now on to other services!

    1. Re:Later Dropbox! by noblebeast · · Score: 5, Interesting

      MEGA is looking like a better alternative every day. End-to-end encryption, and 50GB(!) free storage.

      --
      Its not so bad as long as you can keep the fear from your mind.
    2. Re:Later Dropbox! by MightyYar · · Score: 5, Funny

      And then mail it to your friends and colleagues? Might slow things down a bit, but it makes me feel nostalgic. Just today I considered faxing something, just for the pure walk down memory lane. Beeep. Beeep. Beeep. X-FER FAIL.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  2. Two solutions (Encrypt or leave) by kye4u · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you are determined to use drop box, use an open source software as 7zip that will encrypt and zip. Otherwise, stop using drop box and move on to something else. One of the consequences of using the magical cloud is that your are bound to somebody else's rules for how they manage your data. Also note that those rules are subject to change at any time, and you don't have any say in those changes (I guess the only option is to speak with your wallet and move to greener pastures).

  3. Re:That's it by Richard_at_work · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But this isn't new, its been going on since Dropbox implemented their DCMA violation checking system a few years ago, and you can see *why* they are doing it.

    Lets clarify a few things for those that aren't going to RTFA - this isn't for private shared folders, or for folders within your own Dropbox. This is for when you create *public* links, by either using the "Shared Links" facility or when you create a public link from the old style Public folder.

    Thats it. The files Dropbox is including in these scans are *publicly linked* to - and they are fair game if Dropbox wants to stay ahead of the legal system on this front. Dropbox has no idea that you only intend to share it with yourself, or one other person, and there is no mechanism by which you can ensure that yourself anyway.

    Yet again its forced outrage against basically something which is common sense - if the file has been taken down before, its going to be again, and the less man power Dropbox expends while handling DCMA requests the better for them as a company.

  4. Re:Much, Much Later by jimbo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've used EncFS and BoxCryptor with Dropbox from day one and 'd do that with any cloud storage solution, no matter what they claim it is irrelevant. It is my data, by choice I'm retaining the responsibility for it's safety/security.

    I'll continue to use Dropbox because I never trusted them and made sure I didn't have to.