USTR Publishes Rogue Sites List 82
bs0d3 writes "The U.S. Government has classified some of the largest websites on the Internet as examples of sites which sustain global piracy. The list released by the United States Trade Representative draws exclusively on input from rightsholders. It includes popular torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay, file-hosting service Megaupload, and Russia's leading social network VKontakte. VKontakte says that company's copyright problems are in the past after a deal was made with the USTR. Also, for the first time in many years, China's leading search engine Baidu has been removed from the list. However, China's widely used online consumer and business-oriented online shopping service Taobao remains listed. The full report can be viewed here. It has no legal implications whatsoever, but may be referred to by policy makers regarding future legislation (e.g. SOPA)."
Not All Rightsholders (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm a rightsholder too. For example, I hold the rights to this post. But I wasn't included.
I think it's more correct to say that they drew input exclusively from large media cartel members, not from rightsholders in general.
If they had asked me, for example, I would have listed riaa.org and mpaa.org as rogue sites that sustain global piracy. I don't need evidence. I'm a rightsholder!
Re:Not All Rightsholders (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Not All Rightsholders (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't like the term "rightsholder" in general. Doesn't that imply that there are some people out there with no rights? I'm a goddamned rightsholder too, I've got all kinds of rights. And yeah, they didn't ask me either.
People who do not have rights (Score:4, Insightful)
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I don't like the term "Rightsholder" either, it seems almost "Reich-like". I have rights and obviously you have too. We all have rights, and we are free to disagree if needed.
The problem has been rights for years, nobody has challenged that in a substantial way. That would cost money that the "poors" could not afford.
Better to ride it out to the end, Then shit will get really bad for everyone.
I could be more succinct, but I'm limited.
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Why isn't Disney on the list? (Score:5, Insightful)
Disney has pirated a lot from the brothers Grimm, Mark Twain, Hans Christian Anderson, etc. And, they continue to pirate our culture [wikipedia.org].
And? (Score:2)
Re:And? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you're trying to find pirated movies or software, it's got a nice list of sites you can go to.
Re:And? (Score:5, Insightful)
Does anyone in the real world care about this list? Unless you're after government contracts I can't really see how business is likely to be affected by your inclusion on it.
Damned right they do! As TFA predicts, clueless policy makers will soon be citing it as "the official list of pirate sites...", if they are not already. "After all, teh list is on teh interwebs, so it must be true. Think of the children..." The same braid dead rationale behind SOPA is already in play here. Just because it does not (yet) carry the force of law, it's effect is very real.
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ThePirateBay and Baidu...? (Score:5, Insightful)
And not Google? or Bing?
filetype:torrent $SEARCH_TERM
Another biased & agenda laden publication from The United Corporations of America.
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Baidu used to blatantly offer pirated music to their users: https://www.google.com/search?q=baidu+pirated+music [google.com]
Another biased & agenda laden post from Anonymous Coward.
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"used to" being the key words there, right?
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Usually Google is the tool the author and the end 'consumer of piracy' use to find these sites. And once found the "consumer" just cuts out google and goes to the site directly. Google is a good "research tool" in this way.
Referencing the article, it is a very abbreviated list containing a variety of markets (albeit incomplete), but notoriously missing from the category of markets is the actual SOURCE(s) of the pirated content -- the sources that are producing the pirated material and also distributing it
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Excellent point in that one: Who are "the sources that are producing the pirated material"?
Is it just an avalanche of a whole bunch of individuals who offer a file or two each, or is there some groups involved for profit, or power, or something?
Nice (Score:1)
A few I have never tried thank you for the list.
Thanks (Score:5, Funny)
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It would also be nice if they provided the infridging content available for download on the USTR site. You know, just in case everyone wants to make sure the content is infringing.
U.S. Trade Representative (Score:5, Informative)
In case you're wondering, the current person filling the post is Ron Kirk [wikipedia.org], appointed by Obama in 2009. Though it doesn't seem that USTR policy differs much under Republican versus Democratic administrations; sadly this one isn't a partisan issue because both parties are generally on the wrong side.
Re:U.S. Trade Representative (Score:5, Insightful)
...because both parties are generally on the take.
FTFY.
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Be fair. Credit where credit is due: that approach was pioneered by the MAFIAA.
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this one isn't a distraction used to blind people because
FTFY. The corporate system and the cozy relationship between the US government and corporations affects every American citizen; only a small minority are affected by gay marriage or abortion.
Modchip.ca and Controlsource (Score:5, Insightful)
I love how these two sites made it into the list. They are claimed to be selling "circumvention devices and components used to circumvent technological protection measures on consoles". If they are openly selling these things, I am assuming it is legal in Canada to do so - showing a lovely attitude of "If we call it illegal, it is illegal everywhere in the entire world!" from American "rightholders".
Also, that must have been from the Rightholder Group Dept of Redundancy Right Holder Group.
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You are correct. In Canada it is legal to legally purchase a product (Wii, Xbox, Car) and proceed to modify your personal property as you see fit. Shocking, huh.
Re:Modchip.ca and Controlsource (Score:4, Informative)
Not for long, though. The corporate appeasement party finally got their majority, and will likely soon pass some fairly draconian measures, that they tried to pass in the past and could not.
Not entirely sure if it would apply to this, but I think it would. IIRC the gist of the bill seems fairly reasonable at first, some fair dealing exemptions and such, the right to transfer to different media, etc. It then goes on to state that if the media/device has DRM it is illegal to break it, therefore rendering all the rights given useless.
Isn't anyone wondering? (Score:5, Interesting)
Isn't anyone wondering why we get to see lists like that, but no "shame" lists of various internet sellers of brand knockoffs? Ya know, the kind of asshats that keeps spamming /., amongst other sites, with their claims for cheap, cheap prices?
One really has to wonder why this list and not one of the real problem for economy, the commercial infringers. The damage is by some margin higher, and unlike that one, such a shame list, along with action against the operators of such sites, would not only make the economy proponents happy, I bet quite a few internet users would love to see less "cheap outlet" spam littering in their inbox and message boards.
Government really needs a few marketing goons...
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Selling Folex watches or Rolls-Canardly cars isn't illegal, so a website selling those doesn't qualify for the list. The list does include websites that sell copyright-infringing or trademark-infringing goods, as well as physical markets that do so.
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Also I'm sure it will turn out that the US government is giving Vkontakte trouble to funnel more money to US-based Facebook (for the info as much as the tax money), not unlike the way they colluded with US-based credit card processors to squeeze European competition as revealed by Wikileaks.
not only (Score:1)
i have gone to pirate bay to download torrents of free/open source software, also i download "steal this film" which was only distributed via bit torrent. there primary use may be to break copyright but it is not its only use
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Why target torrent and P2P sites, and completely disregard sites like this which sell illegal content downloaded straight over HTTP?
Because more people will go and try to find the free ones. If a free site has a hundred users and the paying one has two users, even though the paying one is technically doing "more illegal stuff" these lists will target the highest number of users first.
This isn't about stopping anyone breaking any laws or the like - this is about trying to stop access to content that Big Media is trying to sell.
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It's about time. There would be no RIAA or MPAA actions if there were not large site engaged in the support of "piracy".
John Doe isn't a large site, and that was all the RIAA and MPAA were after for years.
Thank you (Score:1)
For providing me with a neatly organized list of websites I ought to take a look at.
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People don't know the difference, plus there is a lot of big money that has their shares in IP. They want to make IP infringement (which the closest "crime" non-commercial IP infringement can be alluded to is Beavis & Butthead sneaking into a theater to watch Twilight.) Commercial IP infringement (counterfeitting) is a different matter and has been well handled by laws we have had for centuries.
But, it isn't really about IP... it is about control and adding more revenue streams.
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Legislate all you like... never going to work (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm convinced that anything which legislates against common human behavior will never have the desired effect. This generalization is, of course, with exceptions and limitations (consider laws against theft and murder and the like) but largely holds true of many things. Laws against prostitution, for example has never stopped it and does little to even inhibit it. A law against smoking wouldn't help. There are countless other examples where civil behavior will simply always be a fact of human society. I hold that file and information sharing is one of these things and what's more, I hold we can't really be human without it. I know it sounds absurd, but what we are talking about is sharing human culture, heritage, art, expression... these are the things that make us human. Trying to package it and make it a "product" is okay within limits, but at some point, it becomes anti-human and I hold we have passed beyond that point quite some time ago.
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Has anyone with the ISTR ever hear of... The Streisand Effect?
They have now.
ip law is defunct (Score:5, Insightful)
the internet killed it
it is unenforceable law
millions of global media hungry technology savvy and most importantly POOR teenagers has made this so, and there is absolutely nothing anyone can do this short of destroying the internet
not that they won't try, and not that they understand or accept this, but maybe someone should scream into these ignorant fucking media dinosaur's ears until they understand that no amount of purchased congresscritter whores, hired tech hacks, or lawyer goons can stop this
game over morons. please don't destroy the most imporatnt media invention since the written word and the printing press in your disability to comprehend fucking reality
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I couldn't have said it better myself.... Well, punctuation could have helped.
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there is absolutely nothing anyone can do this short of destroying the internet
And you are talking about the people who control a significant chunk of said internet.
The corollary of your discourse is that the powers-that-be will continue to be more diligent, more far reaching, and more determined in their efforts to track down and stop people who are engaging in these illegal activities.
I have seen many debates here on Slashdot, which usually focus on semantics of "stealing" versus "copyright infringement", but everyone agrees that it is illegal, regardless of what you call it. Might
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Why don't we use the Army to stop shoplifting? Just shoot anyone suspected of shoplifting on the spot without due process, who needs that anyways? Oh, wait, I've got an even better idea — let's make up a nice act like Stop ShopLifting Act and just carpet bomb any mall, where shoplifting occurs. If you are against it — you are a shoplifter and should be shot on sight. Thank you, that is all.
And let me point out to you — RIAA and MPAA are not after the pirates, heck, they could not care less
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Then stop giving them a reason. If you don't want the enforcement agencies to kill the internet, then find another way to protest. [...] Two wrongs don't make a right.
I wonder, what's your take on marijuana laws? Because that substance cures the cancers that we are constantly growing inside our bodies. To extrapolate your position from your writing, I would say that it's something like "Stop healing yourself until the legislators allow you to", and I would respond that I'd rather they lock me up.
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It cures? I had not heard that; I was under the impression it relieved pain and other symptoms. Would you point me to a reputable study (NORML commentaries without references don't count) that says marijuana cures illnesses/sicknesses/diseases? Genuinely interested.
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"If you don't want the enforcement agencies to kill the internet, then find another way to protest."
the logic of the enforcer goon
"If you don't want me to hit you, don't wear that dress."
"If you don't want me to shoot protestors, accept your dictator."
"If you think the idea of the need for a media conglomerate to extract cash for distributing files is just antiquated pre-Internet nonsense, confine your activities to writing harshly worded letters to your congresscritter whore (already purchased by said anti
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Horrible Flash interface - posting proper links (Score:3)
Don't make me load Flash then have to click twice to allow it store date on my machine please - I just want to read a document.
Source is here: http://www.ustr.gov/node/6520 [ustr.gov] (pdf)
Here's some Pastebin goodness: http://pastebin.com/Q5WzwXq0 [pastebin.com]
So why are they referencing those sites? (Score:2)
The list should include itself - it's linking to pirate sites!
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Only it it's pirated porn, but you can write your congressman, I'm sure he will happily share some of his own favourite sites.
Politcal Decision? (Score:2)
Can anyone who speaks Chinese to a check on how much counterfeit product and pirated copyrighted material is still being offered up on Baidu?