Musings of The Maskedanalyst

or

WHY THE DMCA MUST DIE!

I am The Maskedanalyst from Youtube. I used to have an account with about 550 subscribers. Well, at least that is what the statistics on my Youtube profile page said. But some of those accounts were either inactive or suspended and some were nothing more than sock puppets. I am guessing that I only had about 400 real subscribers. In other words, I was not totally unsuccessful in attracting viewers, but I was pretty small potatoes. (Not to be confused with cpotato2004.)

My account was improperly suspended from Youtube. Now, in the grand scheme of things, that matters less than a flea's opinion about whether George Bush or Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean is the brighter individual. But the REASON why I was suspended is of paramount importance because it illustrates just how fragile our First Amendment freedom of speech is.

Youtube is currently the second most popular internet site, as measured by Alexa.com. As I write this, roughly 22% of internet users around the globe visit Youtube. To be denied access to Youtube is to be denied access to one of the most important platforms for exposing your views in the marketplace of ideas. Eternal banishment is not to be taken lightly. Yet my situation reveals how easy it is to get ANYONE banned for months, or possibly even PERMANENTLY from Youtube by abusing a short-sighted and blatantly unconstitutional law that gives any scoundrel the power to censor anything he doesn't like. A bad law, backed up by Youtube's overzealous interpretation of the law, ensures that NO ONE's account is safe. You may assiduously follow both the letter and the spirit of the Youtube Terms of Service, but that doesn't matter. If you make the wrong enemy then you will lose your Youtube account, and Youtube may deprive you of access to one of the most important marketplace of ideas on the internet forever.

I know this from experience. There was an individual on Youtube that went by many names. His primary accounts were redskull, and theredskull, but he had many other accounts as well. He didn't like me because I made videos pointing out his death threats and his use of sockpuppets to harass other Youtubers. He was a serial liar and he accused other Youtubers of cheating the system without evidence. Someone else revealed the real name of the person behind the redskull account, and redskull was unhappy with me because I refused to condemn the fact that someone revealed his identity. As you will see, I am a strong believer that people should be able to speak anonymously on the internet, but I believe you lose your right to remain anonymous the minute you threaten to kill or rape someone. Redskull broke nearly every rule in the book, and he was angry at me for making videos exposing him. He was banned from Youtube--many times, and he wrongly blamed me for getting him banned. And he punished me by perjuring himself in order to ban me from Youtube. He did this by sending impropper complaints to Youtube. In his last complaint, the complaint that got my account suspended, he claimed to own the copyright to a video that I reposted without his permission. I reposted a video all right, but the Redskull did not make it and he had no copright interest in the video. If you watch the video closely you will see that its creator, Firefly515, was BEGGING for others to upload his video.

 

But this web site is not about redskull. Instead, it is about a bad law and how easily it can be abused to stifle free speech. The Digital Millenium Copyright Act was written to adapt copyright law to the internet, but in practice, it tears the heart out of the Fair Use doctrine and it has been turned into a tool for censorship. In practice, the DMCA acts in a manner diametrically opposed to what our Founding Fathers intended when they gave Congress the power to make copyright law. Youtube's overzelous implementation of this law makes a bad situation even worse.

I hope you will take some time to explore my web site. I will teach you how to use the DMCA to get anyone's account deleted from Youtube. I'm not doing this because I want to see all hell break loose on Youtube. I'm not doing this because I want you to censor others. I'm doing it to point out how Youtube policy enables those with bad intent to use Youtube to censor their enemies. I'm revealing this information in the hopes that it will either embarass Youtube to change its policy or encourage people to write their representatives and ask them to change the DMCA. I don't want you to abuse this knowledge to censor others on Youtube. That would be both illegal and immoral. Unfortunately, there are bad people out there who already know how to abuse the system and there is no way to get the system fixed without making its flaws widely known. It is not my intent to harm Youtube or cause chaos on their site, but if chaos does erupt as more people learn how to abuse their system, then the folks at Youtube have no one but themselves to blame because it is they who are rewarding bad behavior.

I am hardly the first to notice this. I highly recommend that you read Brian Flemming's essay "YouTube is eager to be Kent Hovind's bitch".

And this video, by AngryAussie says just what needs to be said about Youtube and the way it handles DMCAs.

 

 

In case you are wondering what prompted AngryAussie's outrage, then take a look at this video. I think the situation would outrage anyone.

 

 

 

UPDATE!!!! --This JUST IN-- Youtube Just Restored My Account!!!!! It was restored on April 20, 2008--more than 4 months after it was suspended.

 

They sent me no explanation as to why they unsuspended my account, and why it was unsuspended now. I can only assume it is fallout from the XenuTV1/Mark Bunker suspension. Youtube has been receiving a LOT of scrutiny these past few days after suspending Emmy Award Wining journalist Mark Bunker. Bunker is a prominent critic of Scientology, and he was about to post a major interview he had with Jason Beghe, a prominent actor who defected from, and is now a critic of Scientology.

 

 

(Bunker's teaser video of his interview with Beghe)

 

 

 

A video by Thunderf00t talking about Mark Bunker's suspension.

 

The timing of Bunker's suspension on the verge of breaking a major story on Youtube makes it look like Scientologists MAY have had a hand in the suspension. There has been a major outcry from Anonymous users who have demanded Youtube restore Bunker's account.  Youtube modified its suspension policy almost immediately after this outcry started. I have no proof, but I strongly suspect that my account was restored because of this change in policy. Or maybe they decided to restore my policy after one of their staff members saw this website. (Update: Mark Bunker made a video in which he said that someone from Youtube told him that it was NOT a Scientologist who got his XenuTV1 account suspended. And Youtube restored both his XenuTV and XenuTV1 accounts after he filed DMCA counter notices against the DMCAs that got his original XenuTV account suspended.)

However, as far as I'm concerned, very little in this site needs changing. Until YT tells me differently, I am assuming that they are interpreting the DMCA the same way that they have always been. I am assuming that they will still suspend accounts without looking, even when they are the targets of bogus DMCAs. I am assuming that they just don't care whether people are falsely suspended or not. I base this assumption on the fact that Youtube did not send me a letter apologizing for wrongfully suspending me. They didn't send me a letter explaining why they decided now to suddenly reverse my suspension. In fact, they didn't even send me an email stating that they had restored my account. The only reason I found out my account was restored is that a friend sent me a message that he saw my account was up. (Thanks Weatherman!)

I can only assume that Youtube is in damage control mode and that restoring my account is their idea of maintaining good public relations. It is too little/too late as far as I am concerned. If they inform me that they have a new procedure in place to prevent people from being falsely suspended due to bogus DMCA complaints, then I will change my tune and note it here.

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Site Outline

My Correspondence With Youtube's Copyright Office

Overview of Copyright Law and the DMCA

This section will give you a thorough grounding in the basics of the DMCA and how it runs counter to what our Founding Fathers intended when they wrote the U.S. Constitution. It is essential that you understand the mechanics of the DMCA before you read the section proving why it is unconstitutional.

1. The Purpose of Copyright Law
2. Fair Use
3. The Mechanics of the DMCA (and how to get anyone's account suspended by Youtube).

The Importance of Anonymity

Proof That The DMCA Is Unconstitutional

1. The First Amendment Right to Post Anonymously on the Internet
   1. McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission (1995)
   2. Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation (1999)
   3. Reno v. ACLU (1997)
   4. In re Subpoena Duces Tecum to America Online (2000)
   5. Columbia Insurance Company v. Seescandy.com (1999)
   6. Dendrite International v. John Doe No. 3 (2001)
   7. Doe v. Cahill (2005)
   8. Sony Music Entertainment , Inc v. Does (1 - 40) (2004)
2. Congress May Curtail a Constitutional Right Only if the Legislation Is Narrowly Tailored to Serve a Compelling State Interest
   1. McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission (1995)
   2. United States v. Grace (1983)
   3. PERRY ED. ASSN. v. PERRY LOCAL EDUCATORS' ASSN (1983)
   4. Airport Comm'rs v. Jews For Jesus (1987)
   5. Boos v. Barry (1988)

Examples of DMCA Abuse

1. The Church of Scientology
2. Diebold vs OPG
3. The Crooked case of Michael Crook
4. The strange case of Christopher Knight
5. The Viacom Dragnet
6. LiberalViewer
7. Wendy Seltzer v. the NFL
8. Michelle Malkin v. UMG
9. Christian Science Evangilism vs. Their Youtube Critics

 

Transcripts for my Youtube Videos

NEW!!!-- John McCain has been hit by the DMCA and Youtube has removed some of his videos!!! His solution to this unfortunate situation is both elitist and unacceptable. John McCain, DMCA, and the Law of Unintended Consequences.