The DMCA Now Gives Private Companies Governmental Police Powers
Published on June 2nd, 2003 by J.T in BizarreFrom The Register:
Court confirms DMCA ‘good faith’ web site shut down rights
…
InternetMovies.com had asked the District Court for the District of Hawaii to require that copyright holders investigate infringing Web sites before shutting them down. This rational request was rejected by the court, as its granted the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and any other DMCA zealot the right to put the clamp on Web sites at will.
“This decision rules that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) does not require a copyright holder to conduct an investigation to establish actual infringement prior to sending notice to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) requiring them to shut-down an allegedly infringing web site, or stopping service all together to an alleged violator,” InternetMovies.com said in a statement.
In the land of the DMCA, a “good faith belief” of infringement makes it possible to hijack a Web site without investigation.
This is a very real problem, there is a case where the RIAA sent a cease and desist order to Penn State for posting illegal MP3s. The only problem was that there were no MP3s posted, the RIAA searchbot looked at Professor Usher’s website where he had posted an MP3 of one of his lectures. The RIAA searchbot automatically assumed that the MP3 was by the R+B artist Usher. Mistakes can happen, if the private companies are not required to investigate their claims further they can shut down a website without actual cause.
