Google sues people who “weaponized” DMCA to remove rivals’ search results
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How do you sue a Vietnamese resident for DMCA issues in an American court and get literally anywhere? Are they hoping to get an extradition out of it?
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This isn't a criminal case, I don't think that's even an option.
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At a minimum Id guess this would give google legal justification to ignore any DMCA from this source or any related source.
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Of course, Google is taking action because the DMCA finally bit into Google's bottom line. It doesn't give a damn when fraudulent DMCA claims hurt Youtubers. I got a chuckle out the the irony that Youtube itself is apparently infested with how-to videos on SEO via DMCA takedown, and the promoters may have even made a few $ before it came to Google's attention.
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Yeah, these guys over in Vietnam suck.
OTOH, isn't there a touch of schadenfreude here? in a sideways sort of way?
Google and brethren do everything they can to avoid any sort of content management, preferring a sort of magical, self-regulating online elixir in which they run servers and collect money.
Watching the smarmy whine "oh, it's so hard!!" just has a bit of appeal.
Oh, argh. Maybe I'm focusing on the target with the wrong bullets.
Still.
OTOH, isn't there a touch of schadenfreude here? in a sideways sort of way?
Google and brethren do everything they can to avoid any sort of content management, preferring a sort of magical, self-regulating online elixir in which they run servers and collect money.
Watching the smarmy whine "oh, it's so hard!!" just has a bit of appeal.
Oh, argh. Maybe I'm focusing on the target with the wrong bullets.
Still.
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99% sure this is aimed at an eventual challenge to the requirements of the DMCA instead of really having anything to do with the Vietnamese companies abusing the DMCA.
Also, quelle suprise.
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So, they'll have to create a few new Gmail accounts before they can keep right on going? Goody.
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I'll stipulate that Google is correct to go after abusers of its DMCA system. However, that their system is so fragile indicts Google. Google could stack more free cash than Walter White but they can't seem to hire enough people to take care of their obligations. Why is this megacorp allowing a poorly moderated YouTube to be a cesspit of misinformation while seemingly having a laser focus on DMCA? Because DMCA violations cost them money but their publishing crap like anti-vaccine idiocy is not a concern. Don't be evil Google.
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That "Penalty of Perjury" should have some more teeth. It might not help in this case, but it might do a little bit more good in the cases where firms robotically submit 1000's of takedowns at once without checking them.
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I don't see the issue. As Google points out, the DMCA "relies on the honesty and good faith of copyright claimants", and we know that corporations or individuals would never compromise those principles even if there were a strong and obvious financial incentive to do so.
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Maybe the problem isn't abuse of the process per se, but that there exists a shit process that is vulnerable to easy abuse...
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Just do this:
Every DMCA takedown request costs N dollars. No idea where to set N -- ten bucks?
You get your money back if no one appeals and no one wins said appeal. Escrow, basically.
It costs precisely zilch to issue a takedown. Nothing at all.
And thenwe Google are surprised that people shotgun claims!
It's obvious.
Of course, this system actually requires Google spin up a department, so they never will, unless the law changes.
(Which, itself, will never happen -- the Republicans can barely keep the lights on, much less make laws that serve their nominal constituents.)
Every DMCA takedown request costs N dollars. No idea where to set N -- ten bucks?
You get your money back if no one appeals and no one wins said appeal. Escrow, basically.
It costs precisely zilch to issue a takedown. Nothing at all.
And then
It's obvious.
Of course, this system actually requires Google spin up a department, so they never will, unless the law changes.
(Which, itself, will never happen -- the Republicans can barely keep the lights on, much less make laws that serve their nominal constituents.)
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Google makes $2-3 million in profit every few minutes. It's not about the money from this specific case, it's about sending a message, or more likely, trying to appear like they're doing something — because actually collecting judgement from random spammers in Vietnam and elsewhere is not likely to ever happen.
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When asked for further comment, a Google representative said "Well, you see, this particular drop in the ocean of bogus takedown notices actually affected our bottom line.", which answers any and all further questions.
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While there's lots to discuss about DMCA abuses (and which ones actually get the attention of Big Tech), I also like the detail that defendant posted a "Here is how I'm doing my crimes for fun and profit" video... On a service owned by the very company he's defrauding. 
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Per Google:
Regarding the bolded bit: is there anything preventing Google from proactively monitoring its DMCA service for signs of abuse, and not automatically taking down content (search results or videos) where there are signs of a bad-faith actor at work? For example, how many times does Scripps get to issue take-downs against NASA videos for NASA clips shown in Scripps segments before they forfeit the right to automated enforcement actions? Same with search result take-downs.
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So are they going to sue the MPA and RIAA next? Or do they only care about shotgunning false copyright claims when non-US companies do it?
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Nothing preventing them from not automatically taking down content, except that if they fail to do so (for a legit takedown notice) they become legally liable themselves for the violation.
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Did you read the summary in the article? Essentially, Google has little choice: DMCA requires that they act on the complaint, not investigate it. The whoever gets taken down has to jump through hoops to get reinstated. DMCA has to be changed to fix that.
Now "poorly moderated Youtube" containing instructional videos on how to do this scam is a different story.
One wonders, of course, how that "penalty of perjury" thing is going.
A lawsuit doesn't address that but if the perps are in Vietnam criminal prosecution is probably not feasible. The lawsuit give Google a little cover to resist takedown demands at least from that source.
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My read is that Google is suing these clowns (and likely winning a default judgment) which will help insulate them from getting sued by all the companies that they took down due to these fraudulent filings. So basically "legal CYA."
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My guess is they're wanting to set a precedent for DMCA scammers that are located in the US. The odds are these Vietnamese defendants won't bother to show up and defend themselves, resulting in a default judgment giving Google everything they ask for. Then they can sue US DMCA scammers while pointing to the outcome of this case, helping speed up the process. Judges might even issue summary judgments for Google in future cases.
Damn it, you made my sarcasm meter explode!
I follow politics pretty closely, I'm expecting the government to shut down Saturday. You have the fact that the House Republicans can't even agree with each other*, plus the Freedom Caucus wants the government to shut down. It's unlikely they'll pass a bill that even a majority of the Senate Republicans will vote for, much less pass the whole Senate or be signed into law by Biden.
* You have the moderates (aka, what Republicans were like before the Tea Party and MAGA) who want to keep the lights on and the Freedom Caucus (aka MAGA Republicans) who want chaos and believe in hostage taking to get 100% of their demands. They refuse to compromise on anything and the Speaker of the House is one of them. He's also got zero experience in House leadership, much less being Speaker. Back when Paul Ryan became Speaker he was overwhelmed by the job, and he'd been in leadership for years before that.
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Hi Google. I'm noted corporation CEO Sundar Pichai and I'd like to raise a DMCA complaint that www.google.com/* is infringing my intellectual property. Please take this site and all matching pages out of your records immediately.
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The DCMA itself. As per the article, and the law suit, the DCMA requires a claim that meets the minimum of the law be taken in good faith - assessing legal claims is very much the purview of the courts, and Google has neither the ability nor authority to preempt that without risk of losing their own legal protections under the DCMA.
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If that could be altered for each request to require a paper document notarized in any US state, it would go a long way. Someone filing a fake takedown request would at least have to come within arm's length of the law during the process.
As the system currently stands you don't even need a person to file a request, inside the country or not. A bot can spam requests under a fake name using online forms, and it's just assumed to be a real complaint by an actual person.
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Yet no-one stops google making DMCA notices cost, at least until the contents is legitimately removed.
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I'm beginning to think that a "moderate" Republican is simply Tea Party. MAGA is a step beyond.
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A "moderate Republican" from the 1990s is a 2023 Democrat, really. Policy-wise, I mean.
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I don't think Vietnam has an extradition treaty with the US ? Better would be to remove their website from search results entirely. Sure they can just modify the code a bit and switch domain but they'll loose all SEO and hopefully that would teach them a lesson.
That said it is the DMCA system itself that is completely broken since inception....
That said it is the DMCA system itself that is completely broken since inception....
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hmmmmm, false claims=propaganda, to cause undue stress within the economic juggernaught of american money grubbers.
"its a game" ??? well, damn right it is! it's one player VS another in the 'fair and honest' world we cohabit.
too bad this all comes down to revving up some lawyers thinking engines to keep them visibly in demand. (and graciously well compensated) just pass the cost on to the 'end users' but NEVER assume any loss that cannot be written off.
"its a game" ??? well, damn right it is! it's one player VS another in the 'fair and honest' world we cohabit.
too bad this all comes down to revving up some lawyers thinking engines to keep them visibly in demand. (and graciously well compensated) just pass the cost on to the 'end users' but NEVER assume any loss that cannot be written off.
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It might be worth it to a competitor to forego the N dollars and just keep filing DMCA take down requests to harass the competitor. So to put teeth in this either N has to go up for the i+1 request or some other stricter rule would need to kick in. As in, the request must be filed in person in Mountain View with a valid ID presented, or at least the request must be notarized, requiring a visit to the consulate or embassy in a foreign country, and sent by courier.
I suspect that all of these solutions are too simplistic, and that there may not even be a general solution (ie, one that cannot be gamed somehow.) For instance, if I was putting up a page which I knew was a DMCA violation I might immediately post a DMCA notification against that page myself (using a made up account), to make it harder for people with a real grievance to obtain relief.
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