How Dropbox Knows When You’re Sharing Copyrighted Stuff
techcrunch.com
How Dropbox Knows When You’re Sharing Copyrighted Stuff
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Re: How Dropbox Knows When You’re Sharing Copyrighted Stuff
#2As long as the files aren't being removed and marked inaccessible by the owner, I see no malicious intent by Dropbox here. I'm sure they were pressured by the MPAA and other similar organizations to actively remove/refuse to host these files, and Dropbox implemented this instead.
Re: How Dropbox Knows When You’re Sharing Copyrighted Stuff
#3Dropbox certainly has a very dedicated advocate in Techcrunch. I wonder why.
Re: How Dropbox Knows When You’re Sharing Copyrighted Stuff
#4> Dropbox checks the hash of a shared file against a banned list, and blocks the share if there’s a match.
Encoding an mp3 is not a deterministic process. So if multiple people start with the same .wav file ripped from a CD (which itself may introduce errors) and then downcode it, they will end up with files which sound the same but are slightly different (and therefore hash differently).
So, it should be straightforward to test whether Dropbox does anything more sophisticated than what's described in the article.
Re: How Dropbox Knows When You’re Sharing Copyrighted Stuff
#5This whole story brings increasing clarity on the difference between "we don't look at your files" and "we can't look at your files", as outlined by Colin Percival:
http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2012-01-19-playing-chicken-w...
Obviously, the sharing and interoperability of Dropbox are key features, but for lots of use cases I'd much prefer technical barriers to policy barriers.
The article claims that technical barriers exist at Dropbox as well, but considering they hold all the encryption keys, and I have to trust they're even encrypting in the first place, any "technical barriers" they erect are really no more assurance than policy.
Re: How Dropbox Knows When You’re Sharing Copyrighted Stuff
#6If you don't control them, they're not yours.
Re: How Dropbox Knows When You’re Sharing Copyrighted Stuff
#7They use the same logic to save time when uploading a file that has already been uploaded by another user. Check hash of large file, see if it is already on the server and then just link it to your account.
Re: How Dropbox Knows When You’re Sharing Copyrighted Stuff
#8They are _scanning_ your content!! Mobilize the "scropboxed!" campaign!
Re: How Dropbox Knows When You’re Sharing Copyrighted Stuff
#9Dropbox certainly has a very dedicated advocate in Techcrunch. I wonder why.
Exactly. Quoting Dropbox's terms of service:
> We need your permission to do things like hosting Your Stuff, backing it up, and sharing it when you ask us to. Our Services also provide you with features like photo thumbnails, document previews, email organization, easy sorting, editing, sharing and searching. These and other features may require our systems to access, store and scan Your Stuff. You give us permission to do those things, and this permission extends to trusted third parties we work with.
However congenial this sounds, they reserve the right to look at your stuff —— worth noting.
Re: How Dropbox Knows When You’re Sharing Copyrighted Stuff
#10> Dropbox checks the hash of a shared file against a banned list, and blocks the share if there’s a match. Encoding an mp3 is not a deterministic process. So if multiple people start with the same .wav file ripped from a CD (which itself may introduce errors) and then downcode it, they will end up with files which sound the same but are slightly different (and therefore hash differently). So, it should be straightfor…
That brings up an interesting question. At what point does a modified file no longer fall under copyright?
If I had a copyrighted ebook and changed a single "o" to "0" I bet I could still be busted for distributing it (although it appears Dropbox would no longer automatically catch me). But what if I changed every single "o" to a "0"? Re-arranged words? Chapters? Upcased every lowercase letter?
My guess is that's it's based around "intent" which is hard to quantify, but it's still interesting to ponder.