
Company That Issued Bogus Takedown of TechDirt Post Says It Was All A Mistake - mbrubeck
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120228/09424117897/company-that-issued-bogus-takedown-says-it-was-all-mistake-apologizes.shtml
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pluies_public
It's not "a mistake", it's perjury. With written acknowledgement from the
offending party. I hope TechDirt find this worth pursuing in court, these
kinds of abuses of the system should not be allowed to continue.

~~~
sounds
Ok, fine. They win a court case against the offending party.

The problem though is that instead of the RIAA/MPAA facing competition from a
thousand directions, TechDirt is facing the threat of takedown from a thousand
nameless companies. I mean, who's ever heard of Armovore before?

The DMCA, right now, puts the burden of "guilty until proven innocent" on the
innocent. TechDirt is innocent.

The problem is the DMCA. The solutions available include:

• Fix campaign finance rules, elect better congresscritters, and repeal the
DMCA.

• Implement a technical solution that renders the DMCA outdated

(What other solutions are available?)

~~~
a_a_r_o_n
"Fix campaign finance rules, elect better congresscritters, and repeal the
DMCA."

Yeah, except it's Congress that makes those rules.

Given that vicious circle, how can that specific problem (campaign finance)
realistically be fixed? "Vote them out" doesn't seem to work.

~~~
sounds
Were you suggesting another solution?

My first suggestion is 100% legal - but I think we were all already aware of
the problem with that route, considering what just happened to TechDirt.

------
beedogs
Boy, it's a good thing the burden of proof still lies with the accuser... oh,
wait.

Thanks again, US government, for handing over more of our rights to the
wealthy and powerful.

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shingen
It should be ringing alarm bells?

The President of the United States recently suspended habeas corpus with the
NDAA bill, realistically declaring an early form of martial law, and very few
people noticed or cared. Then he decided to use the Espionage Act to viciously
attack and suppress whistle blowers; even less people noticed. Apparently
we've also lately codified that it's ok for the US Government to murder US
citizens through assassination per Obama's talking points on the subject. In
the same time frame, extraordinary rendition has also basically become
codified into acceptable practice by the US Government - what was previously
intensely argued against a few years ago, is now policy.

Clearly the bar has been raised into a whole 'nother universe for what it
takes to set off the alarm bells. You're dealing with a confused, bewildered,
tired, numb, scared, and extremely divided American people at this point.
TechDirt, and everybody else, can expect things to get radically worse yet.

~~~
Zirro
As a non-American I just have to ask, as I see his name thrown around a lot,
is Obama really the one making these decisions? Are there not people on a
lower level signing some of these? It seems to me, essentially impossible for
one man to be able to handle all things brought up recently, not to mention
all the non-tech questions I'm sure are debated just as much in other places.

~~~
mbrubeck
Bills passed by Congress and enacted into law are _literally_ signed by the
President; somewhere there is a physical piece of paper that Obama marked with
a pen -- except in a few cases where it was a robotic pen:
[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/11...](http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/11/obama-
signs-budget-bill-by-autopen/1#.T02d9SQnaTE)

And the other decisions mentioned above come directly out of the office of the
president, which is to say Obama and his cabinet and staff. The executive
branch is the president's instrument to wield; I think everyone would agree
that the president has responsibility for the actions of his appointees and
White House staffers. And the key documents like executive orders are, again,
literally signed by Obama's hand.

~~~
a_a_r_o_n
And it's the President's decision to allow or encourage his Justice Department
to pursue the idea that email left on a server after six months is considered
abandoned and therefore free game for the government to warrantlessly peruse.
Like, you know, that 7G of email you have on gmail. Not his law, but he's
using it, and certainly _not_ trying to turn it back.

I wonder how many of his campaign supporters feel betrayed, and how many just
give him a pass like Apple gets for Foxconn.

~~~
newman314
Do you have a link for this? I have not heard of this provision before.

~~~
a_a_r_o_n
Justice Dept. to Congress: Don’t Saddle 4th Amendment on Us

[http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/04/fourth-amendment-
em...](http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/04/fourth-amendment-email-2/)

