Forum

I got flagged again for posting content (U2 - Running To Stand Still) similar to some multimedia-mogul-music-monster-corporation's copyright. I'm not bothered, I'm flattered I came that close to jog the robot-scanner into a match, but I am annoyed for the same reasons I get annoyed when I have to sit through the FBI threatening and warning me every time I watch a legally bought DVD. I don't like being constantly conditioned to obey.

The problem for me is, I have no Sheep-gene in my DNA. I'm not bound to follow. Never have, never will. I'm not going to play any game to someone else's rules, especially when the game is fixed and the people trying to force their rules on me (and you) have no right and no legal (constitutional) grounds to do so.

The law is clear. You and I may post content on the web which uses someone else's copyrighted material. So the answer you give to:

Dear neverfoundthetime,
Your video, Running to stand still.avi, may have content that is owned or licensed by UMPG Publishing.
No action is required on your part; however, if you are interested in learning how this affects your video, please visit the Content ID Matches section of your account for more information.
Sincerely,
- The YouTube Team

...is:

Copyright Disclaimer.
Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statue that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No infringement of copyright is intended in any way under DMCA, under the terms of fair use for education. NO PROFIT is made by me on any material contained herein.

This is exactly what these guys do when they post (and by the way, you really have to check out their Beatles stuff, outstanding!):http://www.youtube.com/user/imcarrying# ... vagh_n8DYE

Obviously, the multi-music Corps don't like this and use their lawyers to go after what they can. I don't agree with piracy and don't indulge in it or encourage it but we are talking the right to share our music and learn and share songs among friends seeking no profit. Actually we spread interest when we do this and encourage sales so it is really a win/win... except when some bullies want to deny you rights you already have, they seek to strip you of these rights and force you to play their game by lobbying to get laws changed to their advantage. And the place this is done is the US Congress.

Many of these big Corps are US based so they chase Congress to make laws to their liking. They could just change their marketing strategies and do some actual, honest work on developing workable sales models in an ever changing world, but that's work! And the problem here is, if they are successful, that the US manages to get the world to dance to their laws. An example of this is if you are a Brit, you commit some computer "crime" eg.: hacking into the pentagon's computer system from home in Blighty (eg Gary McKinnon, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_McKinnon), the US can extradite you to face draconian sentencing in the States. Britain cannot extradite a US citizen for a similar crime, the US does not allow extradition. How the hell British parliament signed a one-sided agreement like that, God knows! In the US, protecting US citizens is almost a sacred thing (and so it should be for all countries in this world)... except when its the US government who is looking to assassinate or hold without trial and representation a US citizen suspected of "terrorism", then its ok to kill that person although this violates the constitution. But you will never see an American war crimes perpetrator before the Hague Tribunals.

If you have being paying attention, the SOPA bill seeks to restrict the Internet in favour of entertainment corporations and much more than that, the changes would have wide reaching implications. Basically, its an attempt to get control of and censor the Internet. Wikipedea went on strike for a day to demonstrate against it (https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/SOPA/Blackoutpage). It's been put on hold only due to protest and pressure through the Internet... or did you hear the main-stream media complaining... no'... well that's because they are also owned by the same shareholders who own big entertainment.

We think we are free but its in the very land of the free at the moment where I see this concept under fire and under threat
...for all of us. Didn't Twitter just announce its going to censor content? It's only if we stay on the ball and remain aware of what's going on do we have the chance to not allow the Internet to become a virtual North Korea. And we are reliant on US citizens to canvas Congress... we non US citizens can't do that.

We have all agreed that TG is not a place for political and religious discussion and I'm not trying to be political or controversial or knock the US here but politics does effect what we can do. I'm just trying to express my thoughts on stuff that touches us at TG. Admittedly I swing wide but this thread is for off-topic discussion so anyone who wants to point out that this is a guitar site, yes it is and this is the thread we can discuss off-topic issues which touch our learning and playing.

I will now draw breath!
Edits:

Wikipedia:SOPA initiative/Learn more:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:
SOPA_initiative/Learn_more

The Electronic Frontier Foundation highlights the problems wit SOPA and PIPA here:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/h ... ree-speech

Chris:

My name is Music Junkie, I am a non-conformist........ B)

Politics aside, I have always been amazed at YT dis-allowing certain posts because of copyright infringement. We put them up to share with other people and to help other people for the most part. I truly fail to see the infringement in there.....

As far as SOPA goes, that is just one scary power grab in my eyes.....

MJ

Hi MJ, no Sheep-gene in you, that I'm sure of!

Since my trip down the rabbit hole last year, I have my eyes open and am watching developments which touch the web.
I have seen that the mainstream media is not as free as we may imagine and that the web is the place to get uncensored info even if it means sifting through a lot of BS at times. Pressure is brought to bare on YT by the big media concerns and this proposed shift in law would make it so much easier for them to get their way forcing YT to do the censorship for them. So at the moment YT are flagging videos which may have infringement issues but its up to the copyright owners to take action. But the law is already clear and certainly allows the use we TG-ers are making of song material. Non profit, educational, commenting. SO they can stop harassing us posters... even though the harassment is now gentle and low-key.

One of the best example that the mainstream media is rigged is seen in this Jon Stewart clip. And its not just Fox offending but time and again CNN (when it comes to RP)... which I see over here: youtube.com/watch?v=Tb5aGgQXhXo&feature=related
Add the www. at the front of the link to get there... I took it out as I don't want to highlight the political factor to all this too much, I'm not backing RP... I'm just impressed by the medias ability to censore all mention of him where possible.

I am certainly no fan of the mainstream media here in the states. I find them full of hot air and BS. They tend to back certain political factions just like any other "Big Business" does. They just get away with it more, because THEY get to put the slant on it in their own fashion.

That clip you reference is very interesting indeed.... The whole mess is a slippery slope that will become a free fall if left unchallenged by the people.

That it seems to be US based though is deceiving. Many of these companies, though based in the US, are owned by entities outside the US. The problem is indeed global. A very sad state of affairs in my opinion. Remember the old saying, "Follow the Money".....

Yep MJ, the corps are global and only follow their own power interests but they do use counties with power-base... now its the US, later it will be China. A recent piece of research from a top Swiss university shows the wealth of the world to be in the hands of a very small number of wealthy stake holders. Their research showed also that all the big corporations own bits of each other... its a closed club and they run the show and its a matter of record... its just very hard to unravel the connections and see it.

Here's Jon Stewart on SOPA:

Hey Chris
I’m not really getting the sheep metaphor in this context – but that aside, I’m kind of struggling to comprehend your reaction to the YT message. It’s fairly obvious that YT will have some automated check on content that is posted. If, for some reason, it flags up one of your videos and also tells you that you need do nothing, then so what? Where’s the harm? It’s not like the FBI are trying to knock down your door. If YT were to be found guilty of continually allowing copyrighted material to be posted and took no action then it would be shut down – and probably rightly so. Where would we be then? How would we share our videos? If, as you say, you accept that piracy is wrong then surely you have to accept that someone is going to be checking up? If that check misfires occasionally, and posts an unnecessary message, then that seems like a small price to pay. And the rant at something so trivial kind if distracts from the important stuff that follows.

Stuart

No Sheep-gene here

I love my country, but I fear the government. If I could, I'd have them all run out on a rail and put new people in there.
And they are well aware of my feelings. I've made my voice heard on many occasions over legislation that needed to be fought.

Chris- as usual you are more well informed on American politics than most Americans!! Congrats! What do you guys do in Switzerland all day? Make chocolate and cheese and watch CNN?

SOPA is another in a long line of attempts by the film and music industry to increase royalties for their members. They are being opposed by the computer industry. These are two big boys slugging it out with phenomenal amounts of money at stake. There are no clear winners but there is certainly a loser-us!!

Free speech is a critical and core value to Americans and is guaranteed by our Constitution. We take it very seriously; to a fault sometimes. Many of us see SOPA as an extreme threat to that freedom of expression. Regrettably, some US Congressmen (Representative Lamar Smith of Texas for instance who offered the bill) got co-opted by the MPAA and the RIAA.

My read is that this bill was pointed directly at China and all the East Asian countries that steal US intellectual property. And it is a huge business. My son had a copy of Lord of the Rings before it had even finished its theatrical run. But this bill went way too far and over-reached its intended purpose (IMHO of course).

The recording industry was shocked by the swift and vehement backlash exhibited by Google, Wikipedia, et al. Let's hope that everyone takes a step back and they can find more common ground. This battle really serves no one well. BTW, this issue goes back to at least the VCR recording issue. It isn't new but seems more aggressive than ever!

cheers! baaaaaaaaa! :cheer:

All topics like this are subject to the huge pendulum effect......

When something starts to get out of whack one way, the reaction from anybody offended is to push it to the extreme in the opposite direction rather than just trying to get it back in balance. Piracy and such is a problem and a legitimate one. Pushing the pendulum to the extreme of threatening harmless YT posts and busting people for using a copyrighted songs in an innocent manner are just the normal way of things in this silly world. You can follow that analogy on countless topics. The human need for revenge vs. the need to make things right again is a powerful force. Not really trying to talk specifics here, just in general. It is all very interesting and somewhat disturbing, but it is what we have to deal with now and hopefully we will get smarter at some point in time.....

MJ