Laser printers newest target of entertainment industry
More embarrassments for the copyright corporatists. Cory Doctorow points us to a widely-blogged new study from the University of Washington suggesting flawed and irresponsible use of DMCA “takedown notices” by trade group copyright cartels.
In brief, the new threat to intellectual property is inanimate objects — as three laser printers have achieved sentience and been accused of downloading Indiana Jones and Ironman. Ridiculously, the campus printers were sent a DMCA takedown notice — a phrase Canadians should seriously begin familiarizing themselves with.
The paper finds that there is a serious flaw in how these trade groups finger alleged file-sharers. It also suggests that some people might be getting improperly accused of sharing copyrighted content, and could even be purposely framed by other users…
[The researchers] demonstrate a way to manipulate I.P. addresses so that another user appears responsible for the file-sharing.
An inanimate object could also get the blame. The researchers rigged the software agents to implicate three laserjet printers, which were then accused in takedown letters by the M.P.A.A. of downloading copies of “Iron Man” and the latest Indiana Jones film.
“Because current enforcement techniques are weak, it is possible that anyone, regardless of sharing content or using BitTorrent, could get a D.M.C.A. takedown notice claiming they were committing copyright infringement,” said Mr. Piatek.
Shamefully, a Canadian version of the the trash legislation that enables this, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, continues to be secretly and aggressively pushed through Parliament.
Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law, investigates the subversive and irresponsible handling of this issue by the government on his blog masterfully. And will be the place to keep up to date as our rights and culture are sliced away by American lobbyists masquerading as MPs in Parliament.
So — Lock up your printers! Get Net Nanny for your routers! Or… read Geists’ 30 things you can do post and do some of them!
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Read the full UWash study, “Tracking the Trackers”
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