How to Avoid Being Taken Down by US Govt
What they should have done and what you should do is detailed below by someone who studies IP Law, "SearchFreak", in the best article I've ever read on how to avoid website take downs by the over-reaching US Government:
1: Avoid registering domains that are handled by VeriSign or Afilias.
VeriSign operates .com, .net, .cc, .name and .tv while Afilias operates .info, .org, .mobi, .in, .me, .aero and more. If certain SEO or brand related issues are holding you back from avoiding these TLDs, I have my own experience to share to the contrary. Google will not punish your site if you have a .ch or .eu extension.
2: Avoid using a US-based domain registrar.
Do not choose the traditional GoDaddys of the USA. Please choose a Spanish, German, Dutch, Romanian or even Chinese registrar for your domains. Recent evidence shows that courts in the US will order companies like GoDaddy to hand over your domains without even notifying you.
3: Avoid hosting your site with US companies.
While you risk losing a domain name, you also risk being taken offline by, for example, an erroneous/competitor-directed or even justified DMCA request sent to your hosting provider. There are many examples where rights holders do more wrong than right, where entire websites are shut down because of a single post or message.
If you care about your Internet business, you understand that even one day offline can cause a ripple effect that can take a month to recover from. Receive a penalty from Google and repeat customers can presume your site is down and shift to a competitor.
4: Avoid incorporating as a US business. No more Delaware.
Even if you are a US citizen, you can safely choose other jurisdictions: register your company in Ireland, in offshore locations, in the Netherlands or in Spain. Just search on Google and you will find many options, especially for internet businesses. Most likely, you will also pay less tax. Google does this too.
5: Adopt a DMCA-like procedure to take down reported content.
Are you running a YouTube-like website, a file cyberlocker, a UGC (user generated content) application of any kind or are you just a service provider for others?
Then create a page on your website where you can accept requests for takedown of content using the guidelines of the DMCA.
In order for the Safe Harbor in US Copyright law to be applied, you should also register an agent with the Copyright Office of the USA. It costs just $105. And come on, even YouPorn has a registered agent! You can do it too.
When you receive a Take Down Notice, as they call it, please act on it. This offers the benefit of a history of respecting the law in its current form, however wrong or right you feel it is. This is important if you actually get into a lawsuit, as you will be able to present good evidence that you have acted within the constraints of the law. Thats what the Liability Limitation Act is for; you might win the lawsuit with a summary judgment by the judge.
6: Legal uses of your product versus possible illegal uses.
When the VCR was invented, the MPAA protested that it would copy them into oblivion. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios that the Betamax VCR had significant non-infringing uses, and that the plaintiffs were unable to prove otherwise.
Make sure your products also fit into this description significant non-infringing uses.
7: Know the law, know the truth
In the US, there is no clear evidence that linking to copyrighted content is illegal. My own analysis of the lawsuits that were directed at this important legal question show that all cases were settled or the defender (the site) lost by default (the owner was not present at the trial).
In the European Union, the case of TV-Links.co.uk in the United Kingdom was won by the owner of the site.
RapidShare has had significant success with copyright lawsuits brought against them by different companies. You will notice that RapidShare has taken care to abide by most of the steps above.
8: Unite, work together
While you are competitors in your respective business niches, remember that innovation and access to knowledge that you deliver is being threatened by organized and powerful companies that are working together.
9. Know the Countrys for your Content.
source: WHT
What they should have done and what you should do is detailed below by someone who studies IP Law, "SearchFreak", in the best article I've ever read on how to avoid website take downs by the over-reaching US Government:
1: Avoid registering domains that are handled by VeriSign or Afilias.
VeriSign operates .com, .net, .cc, .name and .tv while Afilias operates .info, .org, .mobi, .in, .me, .aero and more. If certain SEO or brand related issues are holding you back from avoiding these TLDs, I have my own experience to share to the contrary. Google will not punish your site if you have a .ch or .eu extension.
2: Avoid using a US-based domain registrar.
Do not choose the traditional GoDaddys of the USA. Please choose a Spanish, German, Dutch, Romanian or even Chinese registrar for your domains. Recent evidence shows that courts in the US will order companies like GoDaddy to hand over your domains without even notifying you.
3: Avoid hosting your site with US companies.
While you risk losing a domain name, you also risk being taken offline by, for example, an erroneous/competitor-directed or even justified DMCA request sent to your hosting provider. There are many examples where rights holders do more wrong than right, where entire websites are shut down because of a single post or message.
If you care about your Internet business, you understand that even one day offline can cause a ripple effect that can take a month to recover from. Receive a penalty from Google and repeat customers can presume your site is down and shift to a competitor.
4: Avoid incorporating as a US business. No more Delaware.
Even if you are a US citizen, you can safely choose other jurisdictions: register your company in Ireland, in offshore locations, in the Netherlands or in Spain. Just search on Google and you will find many options, especially for internet businesses. Most likely, you will also pay less tax. Google does this too.
5: Adopt a DMCA-like procedure to take down reported content.
Are you running a YouTube-like website, a file cyberlocker, a UGC (user generated content) application of any kind or are you just a service provider for others?
Then create a page on your website where you can accept requests for takedown of content using the guidelines of the DMCA.
In order for the Safe Harbor in US Copyright law to be applied, you should also register an agent with the Copyright Office of the USA. It costs just $105. And come on, even YouPorn has a registered agent! You can do it too.
When you receive a Take Down Notice, as they call it, please act on it. This offers the benefit of a history of respecting the law in its current form, however wrong or right you feel it is. This is important if you actually get into a lawsuit, as you will be able to present good evidence that you have acted within the constraints of the law. Thats what the Liability Limitation Act is for; you might win the lawsuit with a summary judgment by the judge.
6: Legal uses of your product versus possible illegal uses.
When the VCR was invented, the MPAA protested that it would copy them into oblivion. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios that the Betamax VCR had significant non-infringing uses, and that the plaintiffs were unable to prove otherwise.
Make sure your products also fit into this description significant non-infringing uses.
7: Know the law, know the truth
In the US, there is no clear evidence that linking to copyrighted content is illegal. My own analysis of the lawsuits that were directed at this important legal question show that all cases were settled or the defender (the site) lost by default (the owner was not present at the trial).
In the European Union, the case of TV-Links.co.uk in the United Kingdom was won by the owner of the site.
RapidShare has had significant success with copyright lawsuits brought against them by different companies. You will notice that RapidShare has taken care to abide by most of the steps above.
8: Unite, work together
While you are competitors in your respective business niches, remember that innovation and access to knowledge that you deliver is being threatened by organized and powerful companies that are working together.
9. Know the Countrys for your Content.
- Spain allows Linking to Warez, if you dont make Profit from ads or similar - YOU can make profit, but NOT more than your server costs.
- Iceland allows Free speech to even more extend than the US - But PORN is strictly forbidden.
- Iran and Lybia dont care about terrorism, but Porn can bring you in serious trouble - also Pro Israel topics can bring you problems. In Addition, Iran does NOT accept foreign Copyright - this means you can legally host Warez and still comply with Iran's laws unless the work was PRODUCED IN IRAN BY AN IRANIAN.
- Vietnam has the same laws as Iran, and only accepts local Copyright.
- Antigua & Barbuda does not have Copyright at all, you can host anything Warez Related there.
source: WHT
