kayaks ✍ angela shetler
Geekosystem has a fantastic post about the DMCA, how broken it is, how it’s frequently abused (with no consequences for the offenders), and how disastrous it would be if something like SOPA or PIPA were law, because it would certainly be abused in the same way, with much more serious consequences.
It’s almost funny, in a I-want-to-cry sort of way. SOPA and PIPA seem to be constructed on the premise that the DMCA had the right approach, but just isn’t strong enough. The fact of the matter is that DMCA has the wrong approach and is toopowerful. There’s evidence to back this up.
The main DMCA principle that SOPA and PIPA are building on is the takedown request. Under DMCA, anybody – anybody – can file a takedown request claiming that something on the Internet falls under their copyright and needs to be removed from wherever it is, typically YouTube. That’s all fine and dandy — good even — the problem is that there are no repercussions for filing a bogus takedown request, something that happens all the time.
Read on to see the examples he cites. I predict they will make your jaw drop.
