by Ellen Seidler | Copyright, Film, Law, Piracy, Tech
Finally, after weeks–actually months–of repeatedly reporting (and waiting) the pirate movie website videolez.blogspot.com, a site featuring more than 100 pirated movies streamed via Google Drive-hosted embeds of stolen movies), finally bit the dust.
Why after all this time and repeated violations did Google finally remove this site?
I think what finally turned a lightbulb on in the Google Team’s HQ was my response to a lame email they sent me as follow up to DMCA notices I’d issued (on behalf of myself and film distributors/producers I do anti-piracy work for). This is the email the Google Team sent to me in response to one (of many) DMCA notices sent via their online form:
Hello,
Thanks for reaching out to us.
You can obtain the post URL by clicking on the title of the post or the timestamp found at the bottom of the allegedly infringing post(s).
Regards,
The Google Team
The reason the Google Team’s email was ridiculous was because it was WRONG. It’s painfully clear that those employed by Google to respond to DMCA notices don’t truly understand their own products and just how pirates use them. This was my response:
Hello,
Actually we cannot determine the URL by clicking as you suggest….this requires going into the actual source code for an embedded stream.
I’ve attached a PDF highlighting the issue with one of the films we reported. The URLS are not easily available. Right click on the video embed and get “report abuse” and you are taken to Google web takedown form with NO information about the offending URL.
PS-There are many more pages…in fact this entire blog is dedicated to pirating indie films and Google does zilch!
Here’s the
PDF I attached with my email sent to the Team in an effort to explain just what was going on with this particular Blospot.com pirate. Below are the graphics included in the PDF. They demonstrates, step-by-step, how Google could (and should) better understand its own products and respond appropriately upon receipt of DMCA notices rather than send out erroneous emails asking for more information; information that’s actually neither available nor relevant.
Unfortunately, this small victory is but a blip in the sea of Google-sponsored pirate sites. Moments after I discovered the VideoLez site had been removed, I checked another, similar pirate site that I’ve also reported multiple times. It remains alive and well. The countdown clock can be seen here.
I’ve asked it before, but I’ll ask it again. Why can’t Google clean up its act? Does it really deserve protection from liability under the DMCA “safe harbor” provision if it routinely fails to remove content and sites, despite repeated (and clear) requests? Title 17 › Chapter 5 › § 512 states outlines one aspect of Safe Harbor as follows:
(c) Information Residing on Systems or Networks At Direction of Users.—
(1) In general.— A service provider shall not be liable for monetary relief, or, except as provided in subsection (j), for injunctive or other equitable relief, for infringement of copyright by reason of the storage at the direction of a user of material that resides on a system or network controlled or operated by or for the service provider, if the service provider—
(A)
(i) does not have actual knowledge that the material or an activity using the material on the system or network is infringing;
(ii) in the absence of such actual knowledge, is not aware of facts or circumstances from which infringing activity is apparent; or
(iii) upon obtaining such knowledge or awareness, acts expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material;
(B) does not receive a financial benefit directly attributable to the infringing activity, in a case in which the service provider has the right and ability to control such activity; and
(C) upon notification of claimed infringement as described in paragraph (3), responds expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity. [underline added]
6 Easy Steps the Google Team could take to fix their DMCA takedown process
To allow Google’s web crawlers to find read my list of suggestions 😉 here it is again in text form:
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Companies (like Google) that host websites where user-generated content is uploaded should create templates that include easy-to-find, direct buttons/links to site-specific (i.e. Blogger) DMCA takedown forms/contacts.
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URL of infringing content (page) or (embedded) video stream should be obvious and easy-to-find.
-
Most efficient way to accomplish would be for “report abuse” button in page template and/or embed window to link users directly to web form with requisite URL pre-filled.
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If content is found to be infringing, removal should be done in a timely manner and reporting party notified via email that appropriate action has been taken.
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If content is found to be infringing, removal should be done in a timely manner and reporting party notified via email that appropriate action has been taken.
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Users (sites) that repeatedly violate copyright should be removed.
Next “expeditious” move is Google’s…I’ll be waiting.
by Ellen Seidler | Ad Sponsored Piracy, Copyright, Film, Piracy, Tech
Google comes in a close second to word-of-mouth in path to piracy poll
A while back one of the world’s most popular pirate websites, LetMeWatchThis went through tumultuous times as its domain name was hijacked and cloned by other not-so-nice pirates. According to torrentfreak.com the hijacking, and general confusion led to the domain switching to an entirely new domain, primewire.ag:
One of the largest unauthorized streaming movie websites on the Internet is at the center of what is probably the most confusing mess ever to hit the sector. Various hackings, hijackings, domain changes and nefarious happenings have turned 1Channel, LetMeWatchThis, PrimeWire.ag and Vodly.to into a maze of smoke and mirrors through which no regular user has a hope of navigating.
While it’s not clear if the dust as settled, what is clear is that someone operating the domain name primewire.ag is running a website full of illegal links to thousands of stolen movies. The pirate site, as mentioned in my earlier post today, makes money via advertising (mostly major American brands) but as I was researching the site for my post, I noticed another feature worth highlighting. In its sidebar, the website has posted a poll asking this question: How did you find us through our new name?
According to the results users turned, in large numbers, to that tried and true source for pirated content worldwide, Google search. Nearly 200,000 (29.88 %) users chose Google as their path to the site, second only to word of mouth which took top honors at 43%. While the poll is not scientific, it does provide more anecdotal evidence to what most believe to be true, Google is a major sign post on the path to online piracy. Even when pirate sites run into trouble with other pirates hacking and stealing their domains (ironic isn’t it), leave it to Google to come to the rescue.
by Ellen Seidler | Ad Sponsored Piracy, Copyright, Film
Excuse me if I don’t get too excited over Creative Future’s recent letter to ad industry representatives praising their for its efforts against online piracy.
We are writing to thank you for the progress you have made in addressing the exploitative practices used by some in the online advertising marketplace, including the diversion of advertising to websites
engaged in piracy.
Your pledge to act to reduce digital piracy is commendable. In your June 19 letter to the Co-Chairs of the International Creativity and Theft-Prevention Caucus, you highlighted the “Core Criteria for Effective
Digital Advertising Assurance” that you are developing, as well as the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s recently announced “Trustworthy Digital Supply Chain Initiative.” We believe these are the kinds of industry-led voluntary actions that can most effectively take the profit out of piracy.
Of course some action against ad-sponsored piracy is better than none, but news flash, ad-sponsored piracy is not news. Every few months it seems some new initiative is announced yet, in reality, in the land of the online pirates and their quest for profits, nothing much has changed. A year ago the White House released a statement on best practices to “Combat Online Piracy and Counterfeiting” which included this statement:
The Administration strongly supports voluntary efforts by the private sector to reduce infringement and we welcome the initiative brought forward by the companies to establish industry-wide standards to combat online piracy and counterfeiting by reducing financial incentives associated with infringement. We believe that this is a positive step and that such efforts can have a significant impact on reducing online piracy and counterfeiting.Y
Is there an echo in here? Why all this coddling of piracy’s enablers? Enough with the self-congratulatory preening. DO SOMETHING! Four years ago I wrote this on my blog about ad-sponsored piracy, popuppirates.com, when I launched the site in June of 2010:
In the process of scouring the web for the thousands of illegal download links and online streams of our film (more than 55,000 documented to date) I quickly discovered that various, theoretically legit companies, seemed to be (indirectly) generating income through the placement advertising on websites featuring streams and download links to pirated films. In addition, and most troubling, is that fact these ads generate income for operators of these pirate websites and add to generous profit totals for ad providers…
…The nature of the advertising varies, but I was dismayed to discover that the ads were not limited to cheesy online gaming sites, etc. Rather, they include a number of legit companies like Sony, Radio Shack, Pixar, Porsche, ATT, Chase, Network Solutions, Auto-Zone and even Netflix (particularly ironic since they carry our film). The list of advertisers goes on and on. It’s the same situation, if not worse for other films. Ads are ubiquitous on pirated content throughout the web
Now, exactly four years later what has changed? Not much…
Just this morning I checked out primewire.ag, a notorious pirate site and within moments was confronted by major brands advertising promoting their products while simultaneously filling the coffers of the pirate profiteers. As I reloaded the pages and clicked through listing of download links to movies like “The Transformers-Age of Extinction” and “Rio 2” I was greeted with ads from Lexus, Verizon, ATT, Domino’s Pizza, State Farm Insurance, Mucinex, Dick’s Sporting Goods and BP popping up directly beneath a ” Support the Site” plea. This is just one pirate site and it took me less than 10 seconds to find multiple major brands advertising there.
Time for talk is over. I’ll “thank” advertisers for their (overdue) response when–and if– I click on these pirate sites and don’t see this anymore:
by Ellen Seidler | Copyright, Film, Piracy, Tech
Is this really what lawmakers had in mind when they wrote the DMCA?
Seriously, it’s not that I just love spending my time bashing Google, but the fact is that this company deserves to be taken to task (every second of every day) for the lousy job it does dealing with the rampant piracy on its Blogger platform. The slide show below is simply more documentation as to just how absurd, convoluted and outright busted the DMCA takedown process is with the barnacle that is Blogger (Blogspot.com). While mothership Google pretends not to notice, web pirates grow and thrive in the waters of its safe harbor.
Not only does Blogger provide a sanctuary for movie pirates around the globe, but Google’s cloud-based storage Google Drive, often a host for the Blogger pirated movies streams, looks a lot more like Megaupload than a legit business. Figures, for a company trying to bust indie-musicians and rip-off professional photographers, developing slick and slimy ways to avoid the law seems about par for the crooked course.
Google makes billions leveraging content created by others. The least they could do is respect our right to remove it, but that would mean less content for them to leverage, and thus less money for them. For Google, though it regards itself as the emperor of tech, ever evolving to offer society the next big thing; it’s really just like many other multinational behemoths seeking to protect and its increase profits. Who cares where those profits come from? Given greed’s at the company’s core, I once again welcome you to another example of Google’s takedown labyrinth.
[rev_slider Google_DMCA_circus]
When Congress crafted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in 1998 they explicitly carved out “safe harbor” from liability for copyright infringement so long as the service provider, “upon obtaining such knowledge or awareness, acts expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material.”
Section 512(c) limits the liability of service providers for infringing material on websites (or other information repositories) hosted on their systems. It applies to storage at the direction of a user. In order to be eligible for the limitation, the following conditions must be met:
- The provider must not have the requisite level of knowledge of the infringing activity, as described below.
- If the provider has the right and ability to control the infringing activity, it must not receive a financial benefit directly attributable to the infringing activity.
- Upon receiving proper notification of claimed infringement, the provider must expeditiously take down or block access to the material.
The legislation also contains this language with regard to a service provider being eligible for limitations on liability, “: (1) it must adopt and reasonably implement a policy of terminating in appropriate circumstances the accounts of subscribers who are repeat infringers…
After you step through these slides and read my previous posts examining Google’s dysfunctional takedown procedures, can you really believe Google is “expeditiously” honoring the intent of the DMCA? If so, I’ve got a bridge to sell you…
by Ellen Seidler | Copyright, Film, Piracy, Tech
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How much more of Googlenocchio can filmmakers take?
Google publicly brags about its “commitment to make copyright work better online” but the in reality it’s just a big, fat LIE.
I must say it was pretty ironic when, in the midst of working on this post, Ironically, I received this email from an indie film director asking my advice about dealing with Google:
Ellen, I have a quick question. I am having problems submitting DMCA notices to Google on some of the links, where I have submitted them before and Google hasn’t taken them down. [emphasis added]
When I try and re-submit–this can be weeks months later–it won’t allow me to submit the form, saying, the link has been submitted before. Do you have this problem, not sure if I am doing something wrong, or is there nothing I can do !
Sound familiar? I’m sure it does to the many indie filmmakers who, like myself and my colleague above, are routinely at the mercy of Google’s not-so-transparent, lame DMCA takedown procedure when we find stolen copies of our work online.
To dramatize just how flagrant Google’s DMCA foot dragging is I created a clock to track the company’s (lack of) action when it comes to efficient removal of pirated content from Blogger-hosted pirate sites. The clock below began started clicking on April 24th when 2 links were reported for copyright infringement. As of today, June 17th, nearly 2 months later, both pirated movies remain online as does the pirate Blogger-hosted website (see graphic below)
UPDATE: The site was removed July 10th, 2014, nearly 3 months after the first DMCA takedown notices was sent to Google.
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Remember, this is just ONE example of Google’s slow as molasses (or non-existent?) takedown work-flow. Remember this promise?
1.) Streamlined submission tools for rightsholders.
Working alongside industry representatives, we’ve built a better submission and handling system for our high-volume DMCA takedown submitters that simplifies the reporting process and reduces our average response time to less than 24 hours. [emphasis added]
When it comes to Google, broken promises are merely its modus operandi. When Google flacks claim the company cares about copyright infringement, it’s just a lie.
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by Ellen Seidler | Copyright, Film, Piracy, Politics, Tech
Google’s claim that it’s doing a great job streamlining its response to DMCA takedown notices on its Blogger-hosted websites doesn’t jibe with the truth. This year the U.S. Patent and Trade Office (USPTO) has been holding a series of hearings with the goal of “improving the operation of the DMCA notice and takedown policy.”
The first public meeting was held this past March in Alexandria, Virginia and second took place May 8th in Berkeley, California. I was able to attend the Berkeley hearing in person and heard representatives from content creation industries and service providers give their perspectives on the current state of “notice and takedown” for infringing content and what could/should be done to “fix” it.
Each speaker presented a PowerPoint, links to which can be found here and a video archive here. As with the initial hearing in March, Google was represented by its Legal Director for Copyright, Fred von Lohmann who walked the audience through Google’s “DMCA notice and takedown tools” and highlighted what he called the company’s “trusted submitter program.” In his PowerPoint, Mr. von Lohmann referenced Google blog post from 2011 “New tools for handling copyright on Blogger” that supposedly highlighted the great progress that’s been made in streamlining the process.
Listening to Mr. von Lohmann it seemed clear that his words were designed for an audience made up of government officials and industry representatives and not indie artists. He (carefully) described a two-tiered system in which “trusted” submitters have access to a wealth of takedown mechanisms to remove infringing content from Google affiliates. However, aside from YouTube, access to these “trusted” programs seems limited to the big film and music entities.
Specifically, with regard to Blogger, the criteria as to how one becomes a part of this so-called “trusted submitter” program remains murky and ill-defined. Immediately following the event I searched Google to find out more (and how to apply) I only came across a link to Mr. von Lohmann’s USPTO PowerPoint. There was nothing on any Google site to answer the question as to how indie rights holders could utilize this so-called “tool.” Since there was no more information to be found, shortly after the event I took to Twitter to ask @flohmann directly for a clarification on his presentation. The response thus far, only crickets…
In addition to this lack of clarity as to who exactly can take advantage of certain tools, Mr. von Lohmann’s careful characterization of his company efficient takedown system did not match my user experience, particularly with regard to Blogger. Over these past few years I’ve documented time and time again the many ways Blogger--and therefore Google–fails to live up to its promises to remove infringing content from its platforms.
Yet, according to Google’s self-published, self-serving report, “How Google Fights Piracy,” (that I’ve criticized in a previous post) the company continues to insist that it’s proactive fighting piracy on its Blogger web-publishing platform:
We remain vigilant against the use of the Blogger platform by pirates looking to set up a free website…we will remove infringing blog posts when properly notified by a copyright owner, and will terminate the entire blog [emphasis added] where multiple complaints establish it as a repeat infringer.
Sorry, but the facts clearly don’t match up with this corporate hyperbolic PR spin. Truth be told, Blogger’s takedown system is, in reality, a hot mess. Add Google Drive to the mix and company claims of a “streamlined” takedown process seem even more absurd.
- Blogger content that is reported as infringing takes weeks, not days to remove.
- Blogger hosted blogs that are in the business of promoting pirated movies remain online despite multiple, repeated DMCA notices and despite clear evidence they exist to pirate films.
- The Google DMCA takedown procedure is not easy to navigate. Once users find it, they must repeatedly choose options in order to (eventually) get to the correct takedown form, even someone well versed in the procedure. Why not offer direct links to the correct forms for each platform?
- Blogger’s website templates offer no direct links to Google’s (streamlined) takedown form. Why can’t Blogger hosted sites automatically provide a button/link in their menu bar or footer, designed as part of any page template to enable easy and direct access to Google’s “streamlined” takedown form?
- Google Drive takedown procedures are convoluted and unclear. No easy way to determine file’s URL to report and no direct link to report.
- When a file is reported on Google drive it can take weeks, not days, to remove the infringing content.
Rather than fulfill its promise to expedite takedowns for copyright infringement, it seems that the “Google Team” does everything within its power to make the process convoluted, cumbersome and difficult–particularly for individual artists who don’t have the deep pockets to hire help and/or automate the takedown workflow. Please take some time to review the graphics that I’ve created that illustrate just how badly Google is doing when it comes to Blogger (and Google Drive) takedowns.
Given the complexity (and hilarity) of attempting to remove pirated stream of our film “And Then Came Lola” (seen in the example above) hosted on Google Drive I made the following video that will walk viewers through the process. Weirdly I was able to find the URL (that was not the case with some of the other examples I’ve provided) yet that didn’t help much since pirated copy is still, as of today, June 1st, available on line–more than two weeks after I sent a DMCA takedown notice to Google. As far as I’m concerned, when Google characterizes itself as doing a good job with this process I can only shake my head. No matter how many ways Google spins it, it’s not true.
https://vimeo.com/97077933
Coming soon, Part Two: How Google Could Fix its Broken DMCA Takedown System
Finally, after weeks–actually months–of repeatedly reporting (and waiting) the pirate movie website videolez.blogspot.com, a site featuring more than 100 pirated movies streamed via Google Drive-hosted embeds of stolen movies), finally bit the dust.
