Forums under Legal Attack

[OldSchoolDSL]

Originally Posted by BirdOPrey5

Thanks...

This article may be of interest to forum owners:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/201...aven-loophole/

They claim there is a form to be filled out and a $105 fee that basically makes you immune to these lawsuits.

So I'm wondering if you've pulled a "Microsoft" (as I call it) and have several domains pointing or re-directing to your master domain... I'd assume you'd have to list all those as well with the added $30.00 fee for each & if you exceed 10, then you have to fill out another form with another $105 fee, plus every 30.00 fee for each domain.

Sometimes I think it would be easier to just move your domain to country which does not indorse or approve of DMCA

("Pulling a Microsoft" means if I type out not just Microsoft.com, but also .net, .info. org, ect... And also anything with the name Windows, Office, DirectX, ect...ect... I end up going to Microsoft. I always called it that, because to the best of my knowledge they were the first to do so)

[BirdOPrey5]

Well if the domain redirects there certainly would be no issue, the URL in the browser would always be .com.

If however you actively use multiple domains I could maybe see your issue but in truth they should all link to the same privacy policy and terms of service and list the "official" website URL so I wouldn't worry about that either IMO.

[onehost]

Originally Posted by BirdOPrey5

Thanks...

This article may be of interest to forum owners:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/201...aven-loophole/

They claim there is a form to be filled out and a $105 fee that basically makes you immune to these lawsuits.

That does not make since..I see nothing in this form that would prevent
a lawsuit, i see no info of importance to be honest...This could very well be RHaven.

I am a little confused..I thought forums could not be sued or had at least certain
3rd party rights from what other posters post...

This is the same as running into the backend of someone on purpose, then
sue the other party to say, its your fault...but if a millionaire runs into
the back of him, are you really going to take him on in court?

like one person said, this person/company can go around posting his crap on
your forum, wait a few months, then take you to court...is it really that easy?

I have heard of Ripoffreport.com being sued several times, and ripoffreport.com
is still online today, so how come this RHaven has taken down so many, and
not one person has taken out Ripoff for copyright claims?

[BirdOPrey5]

The form is legit, it is from the copyright.gov website:
http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/agent.pdf

The article and a lawyer I talked to said that in order to be eligible for protection under the DMCA you must register an agent using this form, it is not enough to simply have a take down agent and instructions in your terms of service even though most admins seem to think this is the case.

[onehost]

Originally Posted by BirdOPrey5

The form is legit, it is from the copyright.gov website:
http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/agent.pdf

The article and a lawyer I talked to said that in order to be eligible for protection under the DMCA you must register an agent using this form, it is not enough to simply have a take down agent and instructions in your terms of service even though most admins seem to think this is the case.

Agent? What do you mean by agent?

But how does this prevent a lawsuit?

Its like trying to sell me horsecrap, and not tell me whats in it

It seems logical that at some point the tactics used by Righthaven LLC. will be found to be unlawful, and no longer of consequence, but until such a time as this occurs, it is prudent to be aware of the 'clients' that Righthaven represents when you choose to cite information for any means of publication...What does this mean? It means one day some attorney is going
to have some big jingles and stand up to them misusing the justice system for financial gain.

In my opinion if they had ever run across me in such a manner, I would sue them for abuse, and fraud.
They outright knew when they purchased these article rights that they were out on the internet, and
sites had these articles and can prove by post date that they were there before their purchase of the rights,
at best they should have been sent a warning to remove said articles, this is clearly abuse of the justice
system, fraud, and maybe some other crimes as well...Someone will stand up to them one day, if they havent already.

[BirdOPrey5]

I'm not a lawyer so I can't be sure how it will help exactly only that I've been told from multiple sources with no financial stake in this that paying this fee and filling out the form is a good idea.

If you don't feel it's in your best interest to do so that's fine too, I'm not going to worry about what other people choose or choose not to do.

It is my understanding that filling out this form and registering an agent (you can be your own agent) gives you official protection from lawsuits under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA says if a website has an official agent (basically the name and address) of the person personally responsible for removing copyright infringing material from said website than that website can not be sued for copyright violations due to the activity of its users IF the agent (you) deal with take down notices in a timely manner. There is also something about requiring you to take action (ban) repeat offenders as well... I believe.

I'm not trying to sell anything to anyone- I don't make money off these forms, the US Government does.

[onehost]

Originally Posted by BirdOPrey5

I'm not a lawyer so I can't be sure how it will help exactly only that I've been told from multiple sources with no financial stake in this that paying this fee and filling out the form is a good idea.

If you don't feel it's in your best interest to do so that's fine too, I'm not going to worry about what other people choose or choose not to do.

It is my understanding that filling out this form and registering an agent (you can be your own agent) gives you official protection from lawsuits under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA says if a website has an official agent (basically the name and address) of the person personally responsible for removing copyright infringing material from said website than that website can not be sued for copyright violations due to the activity of its users IF the agent (you) deal with take down notices in a timely manner. There is also something about requiring you to take action (ban) repeat offenders as well... I believe.

I'm not trying to sell anything to anyone- I don't make money off these forms, the US Government does.

ok, that makes since..basicly they want your info so they know who to
contact in case such disputes come in, is that about right?

--------------- Added [DATE]1292645550[/DATE] at [TIME]1292645550[/TIME] ---------------

This is interesting, look at this link before the form:
http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/

You can actually see sites that are registered.

I thought sites were protected from 3rd party posters,
but I did not know about this....so there is something
that does actually protect or limit a lawsuit against your site.

[Digital Jedi]

Soooooooo, what happened to the article? Did he sue these guys, too?

[BirdOPrey5]

Maybe they want you to pay to read articles now... not sure... but there is plenty of info out there if you Google RightHaven LLC.

[Boofo]

Originally Posted by BirdOPrey5

I'm not a lawyer so I can't be sure how it will help exactly only that I've been told from multiple sources with no financial stake in this that paying this fee and filling out the form is a good idea.

If you don't feel it's in your best interest to do so that's fine too, I'm not going to worry about what other people choose or choose not to do.

It is my understanding that filling out this form and registering an agent (you can be your own agent) gives you official protection from lawsuits under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA says if a website has an official agent (basically the name and address) of the person personally responsible for removing copyright infringing material from said website than that website can not be sued for copyright violations due to the activity of its users IF the agent (you) deal with take down notices in a timely manner. There is also something about requiring you to take action (ban) repeat offenders as well... I believe.

I'm not trying to sell anything to anyone- I don't make money off these forms, the US Government does.

Did you actually fill out the forum and pay the fee?