CBC Threatens Podcast App Makers, Argues that RSS Readers Violate Copyright (boingboing.net)

Cory Doctorow, writing for BoingBoing (condensed):The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) publishes several excellent podcasts, and like every podcast in the world, these podcasts are available via any podcast app in the same way that all web pages can be fetched with all web browsers -- this being the entire point of podcasts. In a move of breathtaking, lawless ignorance, the CBC has begun to send legal threats to podcast app-makers, arguing that making an app that pulls down public RSS feeds is a "commercial use" and a violation of the public broadcaster's copyrights. This is a revival of an old, dark era in the web's history, when linking policies prevailed, through which publishes argued that they had the right to control who could make a link to their sites -- that is, who could state the public, true fact that "a page exists at this address." But the CBC is going one worse here: their argument is that making a tool that allows someone to load a public URL without permission is violating copyright law -- it's the same thing as saying, "Because Google is a for-profit corporation, any time a Chrome user loads a CBC page in the Chrome browser without the CBC's permission, Google is violating CBC's copyright."We hope it was all an accidental mistake from the CBC, because it seems like a very stupid thing to do otherwise.

Comments

"We hope it was all an accidental mistake"

[Anonymous Coward]

Something something malice something something something stupidity

Punish people that read your content?

[nitehawk214]

CBC publishes an RSS feed, then complains when someone uses it?

Just remove the feed.

Oh, what, now nobody is reading your site? Too bad.

Re:Punish people that read your content?

[r1348]

When Ayn Rand gets cancer, she uses public health care.

Don't underestimate Canadian Content Protectionist

[Zeromous]

Yes, in Canada, I assure somewhere in the CBC there is a bilingual public servant that is absolutely this stupid.

It's one reddit post people!

[Imazalil]

I know you've got your pitchforks our already, but this is all based on one reddit posting.

Not saying it's wrong, not happening or anything, but jesus, at least wait until two app makers have been impacted. We don't even know which app this is all about.

DUH!

[freeze128]

If CBC doesn't want just ANYONE downloading their podcasts, they already have an internet standard mechanism for restricting that. It's called "Authentication". CBC, the onus is on *YOU*.

The CBC is being destroyed from within

[Anonymous Coward]

The previous prime minister Stephen Harper appointed the new board for the CBC, and now that the conservatives are out of power their mandate has become destruction instead of control.

An example:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-donald-trump-groping-allegations-1.3834612

Jan Wong has violated section 319(2) of the Criminal Code of Canada by publishing this. (wilful promotion of hate against an identifiable group) Pre-Harper, the CBC would never have published such garbage.

The CBC has become very Fox Newsish. Radio survives mostly unscathed but the web and tv properties have been on a steady decline.

Is somebody punking the CBC?

[jenningsthecat]

I'm tentatively calling BS on this. FTA, some quotes from the warning that the CBC supposedly issued:

... you have agreed to our our Terms of Use located at ...
... I would ask to cease immediately the use of our unlicensed podcasts ...
... If you interested in CBC content and podcast, we can discuss a license fee model ...
... I would be happy to have a call to discuss further our content and services ...

This is a legal matter, and I very much doubt that the Ceeb would send out such a warning without first having its wording vetted by legal staff. It seems that this little missive wasn't even vetted by anyone whose first language is English. Somebody, (perhaps an insider), may be about to lose his or her job over this.