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DMCA, Easylist, Adblock, Copyright Access Control and Admiral

blog.getadmiral.com

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Re: DMCA, Easylist, Adblock, Copyright Access Control and Admiral

#4

Post by gergles »

The thing I found most hilarious about this is that the author of this post previously worked at Grooveshark, a company that was only remotely successful because they flaunted copyright the entire time they operated.

That he's now using the DMCA (incorrectly) to protect his business model is the height of ridiculousness in my book.

Re: DMCA, Easylist, Adblock, Copyright Access Control and Admiral

#5

Post by lloydde »

gergles wrote: post #4

The thing I found most hilarious about this is that the author of this post previously worked at Grooveshark, a company that was only remotely successful because they flaunted copyright the entire time they operated. That he's now using the DMCA (incorrectly) to protect his business model is the height of ridiculousness in my book.

I thought the OPer name looked familiar. On our second point though, the OP seems to suggest that this was the mechanism GitHub recommended using and the DMCA does seem to include language for tooling that circumvents access controls, but if I remember the DVD situation correctly it wasn't upheld at least in that situation, at least in some jurisdictions -- fair use.

Re: DMCA, Easylist, Adblock, Copyright Access Control and Admiral

#6

Post by drtillberg »

If blocking the domain grants access to the material, somewhat like a door that opens when no key is presented, it would seem unclear how this is an "effective[]" technological control.

Also, the DMCA (Section 1201(i)) permits blocking of effective technological controls that are capable of collecting or disseminating personally identifying information about the online activities of a person. Admiral does not address this, and looking at the details it seems perhaps the issue would be the rationale for the blocking (privacy or a mixed purpose).

Re: DMCA, Easylist, Adblock, Copyright Access Control and Admiral

#7

Post by 23o3o9d »

So... pardon the language but:

Fuck you Admiral, and congratulations.

I had no idea who you were before but you've become a shining example of corporate authoritarian entitlement.

It's my damn computer and if I want to deface a webpage on my computer I can do it however I want--I can adblock it, I can use MS Paint to draw bananas on it, or I can get my toddler to do it with an eraseable crayon.

Re: DMCA, Easylist, Adblock, Copyright Access Control and Admiral

#9

Post by msimpson »

It's important to note that Admiral is making the claim that this domain is used as part of their platform which protects the integrity of paywalls, which in turn guards copyrighted material of their clients. Therefore, this would be a correct application of the DMCA according to 17 U.S. Code § 1201 - Circumvention of copyright protection systems:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201

Subsection A specifically states, "No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title."

So while I do not endorse the mechanism of paywalls: if Admirals narrative and claims hold true, this is in fact a correct application of the DMCA.

Re: DMCA, Easylist, Adblock, Copyright Access Control and Admiral

#10

Post by bitshiffed »

msimpson wrote: post #9

It's important to note that Admiral is making the claim that this domain is used as part of their platform which protects the integrity of paywalls, which in turn guards copyrighted material of their clients. Therefore, this would be a correct application of the DMCA according to 17 U.S. Code § 1201 - Circumvention of copyright protection systems: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201 Subsection A specifica…

But the content has already been delivered by the time this "access control" replaces the original page content with itself. There is no middle step/layer actually guarding the content on Admiral's system. Disabling JavaScript would have the same effect. There is no guarantee that clients must process all network requests or execute all script actions specified by a webpage. If you need access control for a website, your job is to implement it on the server, in a way that is not dependent on client actions, like a login system.
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