How to Avoid Being Taken Down by US Govt

[Paul]

lol we all know how the last similar thread went down.

hint: soap.

 

[Maniac_]

lol Paul!

Well yes, like Jason said, providing copyrighted stuff and ignoring the warnings will make you suffer the consequences, regardless of where you host. USA has nothing to do with that. Copyright is copyright.

And To0 is in jail because he was getting money from VIP members that had access to unreleased stuff. Profiting from something free is ignorant. Remember why warez was born? It's based on the idea that we can get certain stuff for free without needing to pay high amounts.

 

[delboy]

You're wrong. DMCA and other copyright organizations are valid everywhere.

Well that’s not strictly true, DMCA is an American law, and hence only applies to the USA, now I’m not saying other hosts in other countries are not intimidated by dmca and hosts in other countries don’t act on dmca because that would be untrue, but legally they don’t have to, because it’s an American law.

Let’s take the Decency Laws in Dubai, it is illegal to kiss in public, it is illegal to spend time with a women in private if you are unmarried, yet in any non-Arabic country (yes Dubai laws do not apply to other Arabic countries but they all pretty much have the same laws on decency and pornography), for instance the United States, the United Kingdom, or most EU countries it is socially and legally acceptable to kiss a women in public, have sexual relations while being unmarried (e.g. a one night stand or a regular girlfriend)... and it may not in every culture be socially acceptable to watch porn but it is still legal in most western countries.

My point is just like Dubai decency laws do not apply to anywhere but Dubai (or non-Arabic country because they virtually have the same laws on the matter), American laws do not apply to any country which is not America.

A Good Copyright related Example is Iran, Only local material is copyright, so any Iranian can fill their Iran server with petabytes and petabytes of American content and they cannot be shutdown no matter how many dmca reports you send, (assuming it’s not pornographic because if i remember correctly pornography is illegal in Iran like many other Arabic countries).

 

[azuredrake]

As a law student and studying copyright at the moment, I might offer some insight into the matter.

@delboy Your example with kissing in public in Dubai is valid, and it is true that Dubai decency laws do not apply to anywhere but Dubai. The point stands that laws of a certain country apply only to that country and its citizens and no one else. Statement that DMCA and other copyright organizations are valid everywhere by Jason I don't really understand and I believe it is without any base. One other point is that members of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) and that is 183 countries, are in the constant process of harmonizing copyright law, and today laws in different countries are very similar.

However the problem here is different, because the world network is in question, and it's rules are more complex. I must say that I don't understand quite well the whole structure of the internet, how domain companies and ICANN work, but the basic rule is that companies abide the laws of the country they are registered in. Therefore, if any company registered in the certain country receives a complaint from a copyright holder under a threat of a legal action, it must act on it or risk being sued.

The thing with America wanting to be the world police is not uncommon, but I believe that is not relevant on the subject. That is because America (government) does not, and can't pursue anyone for breaching copyright. Only private subjects, copyright holders (for example movie studios) have interest to do so to protect their rights.

A Good Copyright related Example is Iran, Only local material is copyright, so any Iranian can fill their Iran server with petabytes and petabytes of American content and they cannot be shutdown no matter how many dmca reports you send, (assuming it’s not pornographic because if i remember correctly pornography is illegal in Iran like many other Arabic countries).

If copyright holder, infringer are from the same country the matter is simple and is much easier to resolve. For example, in my country which is not very famous for respecting copyright, there was a case where a guy went to prison because of sharing a popular domestic movie.

Basically, if there is a copyright infringement in some other country than the country where copyright holder is located, he would have to go to the court of the country where infringing is happening and file a lawsuit.

In the case of Iran, if what you say that warez is allowed is true, indeed the copyright holders wouldn't be able to protect their rights. On the other hand I can only assume that Iran is not such popular destination for warez sites because of low technical capabilities (no offense to Iran), or very few hosting companies.

That is my analysis of the problem, I hope I cleared it a little, if there is anything someone has basis to believe is not correct, feel free to point to, and thanks for reading.

 

[Maniac_]

Nice reply, azuredrake!

The example you set is valid. If i, a warez site owner get sued and called to court by an American company, but im located in Europe, i need to go to America and defend myself in court. Of course you can choose not to go, and go to jail when you enter America anytime in the future. :P

 

[DoctorX]

A reply from security officer of Leaseweb company (Netherlands) in WHT when asked about their DMCA policy:

LeaseWeb BV (as opposed to LeaseWeb Inc) is a Dutch company, the DMCA is an American legal artifact, as such LeaseWeb BV does not fall under the DMCA legislation and as such we will not act like the DMCA requires American companies (like LeaseWeb Inc) to act.

We will treat a DMCA notice as any regular complaint, we will handle it according to the Dutch Notice and Takedown procedure. We will inform the user of the complaint and give them time to reply, we do not remove content and ask the user to sent us a counter notification (as is required by the DMCA).

So YES LeaseWeb BV (Netherlands) does not follow the DMCA, and YES LeaseWeb BV (Netherlands) does act on copyright infringement notifications. (Be it 'regular ones or DMCA ones).

Alex de Joode
Security Officer, LeaseWeb BV

 

[River]

Lol my buddy made a warez site and registered on godaddy I believe and got taken down within a week :D