Skip to main content

Bungie lawsuit aims to unmask YouTube copyright claim abusers

By

YouTube's copyright claim system has been repeatedly abused for bogus takedown requests, and Bungie has had enough. TorrentFreakreports the game studio has sued 10 anonymous people for allegedly leveling false Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) claims against a host of Destiny 2 creators on YouTube, and even Bungie itself. The company said the culprits took advantage of a "hole" in YouTube's DMCA security that let anyone claim to represent a rights holder, effectively letting "any person, anywhere" misuse the system to suit their own ends.

According to Bungie, the perpetrators created a Gmail account in mid-March that was intended to mimic the developer's copyright partner CSC. They then issued DMCA takedown notices while falsely claiming to represent Bungie, and even tried to fool creators with another account that insisted the first was fraudulent. YouTube didn't notice the fake credentials and slapped video producers with copyright strikes, even forcing users to remove videos if they wanted to avoid bans.

YouTube removed the strikes, suspended the Gmail accounts and otherwise let creators recover, but not before Bungie struggled with what it called a "circular loop" of support. The firm said it only broke the cycle by having its Global Finance Director email key Google personnel, and Google still "would not share" info to identify the fraudsters. Bungie hoped a DMCA subpoena and other measures would help identify the attackers and punish them, including damages that could reach $150,000 for each false takedown notice.

We've asked Google for comment. The lawsuit won't force YouTube to reform its DMCA system, but Bungie is clearly hoping this will add some pressure. As it is, the company believes the fake takedown requests did lasting damage by creating a "chilling effect" for Destiny's YouTube stars (who were afraid to post new videos) and damaging the community at large.

Update 3/29/22 5:40pm Eastern: "We take abuse of our copyright takedown process seriously and terminate tens of thousands of accounts every year for violating our policies, which prohibit submitting false information in a takedown request," a YouTube spokesperson told Engadget over email. "We’ll continue our work to prevent abuse of our systems, and we’re committed to taking appropriate action against those who knowingly misuse our tools."



from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/d5iZOr7
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Instagram accidentally reinstated Pornhub’s banned account

By
After years of on-and-off temporary suspensions, Instagram permanently banned Pornhub’s account in September. Then, for a short period of time this weekend, the account was reinstated. By Tuesday, it was permanently banned again. “This was done in error,” an Instagram spokesperson told TechCrunch. “As we’ve said previously, we permanently disabled this Instagram account for repeatedly violating our policies.” Instagram’s content guidelines prohibit  nudity and sexual solicitation . A Pornhub spokesperson told TechCrunch, though, that they believe the adult streaming platform’s account did not violate any guidelines. Instagram has not commented on the exact reasoning for the ban, or which policies the account violated. It’s worrying from a moderation perspective if a permanently banned Instagram account can accidentally get switched back on. Pornhub told TechCrunch that its account even received a notice from Instagram, stating that its ban had been a mistake (that message itse...
Post a Comment
Read more

Colorado police identified the serial killer who murdered 4 women 40 years ago after exhuming his body to analyze a DNA sample

By
A scientist examines computer images of DNA models. Getty Images Police in Colorado have cracked the cold cases of four women killed 40 years ago. Denver PD said genetic genealogy and DNA analysis helped them identify the serial killer. He had died by suicide in jail in 1981. DNA from his exhumed body matched evidence from the murders. Police in Colorado have cracked the code on four murder cases that went unsolved for 40 years, using DNA from the killer's exhumed body. The cases pertain to four women killed in the Denver metro area between 1978 and 1981. They were 33-year-old Madeleine Furey-Livaudais, 53-year-old Dolores Barajas, 27-year-old Gwendolyn Harris, and 17-year-old Antoinette Parks. The four women were stabbed to death. Denver Police Commander Matt Clark said in a press conference Friday that there was an "underlying sexual component" to the murders but didn't elaborate further. In 2009, a detective reviewed Parks' case and picked several p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gemini vs. ChatGPT: Which one planned my wedding better?

By
I was all about the wedding bells after getting engaged in June, but after seeing some of these wedding venue quotes, it’s more like alarm bells. "Ding-dong" has been remixed to "cha-ching" – and I need help. I don’t even know how to begin wedding planning. What are the first steps? What do I need to prioritize first? Which tasks are pressing – and which can wait a year or two? I decided to enlist the help of an AI assistant. Taking it one step further, I thought it’d be interesting to see which chatbot – Gemini Advanced or ChatGPT Plus (i.e., ChatGPT 4o) – is the better wedding planner. Gemini vs ChatGPT: Create a to-do list I’m planning on have my wedding in the summer of 2026 – sometime between August and September. Besides that, I don’t have anything else nailed down, so I asked both Gemini and ChatGPT to give me a to-do list based on the following prompt: “My wedding is between August 2026 and September 2026. Give me a to-do list of things to do for the...
Post a Comment
Read more