Google Vows To Do Better

[Rowena, Group Owner]

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/com...

Anyone would think that the media is afraid to tell the public what the DMCA really says! The reporter omits to mention that OCILLA (and Safe Harbor rules) require the OSP to remove repeat infringers' accounts.

[Sharon]

Today I received an email from Google telling me that I could report the infringement, but I'd better be certain and GET A LAWYER because I could be sued for a $100K plus if I was wrong. To say this is threatening is an understatement. Here's the letter (very friendly alternating with threats):

"Hi Sharon,

Thank you for your note.

It is Google's policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the text of which can be found at the U.S. Copyright Office website: http://www.copyright.gov/ ) and other applicable intellectual property laws, which may include removing or disabling access to material claimed to be the subject of infringing activity.

To file a notice of infringement with us, you must provide a written communication (by fax or regular mail -- not by email, except by prior agreement) that sets forth the items specified below. Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that material or activity is infringing your copyrights. Indeed, in a past case involving online content (please see http://www.onlinepolicy.org/action/le... for more information), a company that sent an infringement notification seeking removal of online materials that were protected by the fair use doctrine was ordered to pay such costs and attorneys fees. The company agreed to pay over $100,000. Accordingly, if you are not sure whether material available online infringes your copyright, we suggest that you first contact an attorney.

To expedite our ability to process your request, please use the following format (including section numbers):

1. Identify in detail the copyrighted work that you believe has been infringed upon. For example, "The copyrighted work at issue is the text that appears on http://www.legal.com/legal_page.html."

2. Identify the material that you claim is infringing upon the copyrighted work listed in item #1 above.

FOR WEB SEARCH, YOU MUST IDENTIFY EACH SEARCH RESULT THAT DIRECTLY LINKS TO A WEBPAGE THAT ALLEGEDLY CONTAINS INFRINGING MATERIAL. This requires you to provide (a) the search query that you used, and (b) the URL for each allegedly infringing search result. Note that the URL for each search result appears in green on the last line of the description for that search result.

For example, suppose (hypothetically) that you conducted a search on Google.com using the query [Google], and found that the third and fourth results directly link to a webpage that you believe infringes upon the copyrighted text that you identified in item #1 above. In this case, you would provide the following information:

Search query: Google
Infringing webpages: http://directory.google.com/

3. Provide information reasonably sufficient to permit Google to contact you (email address is preferred).

4. Provide information, if possible, sufficient to permit Google to notify the owner/administrator of the webpage that allegedly contains infringing material (email address is preferred).

5. Include the following statement: "I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above on the allegedly infringing webpages is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law."

6. Include the following statement: "I swear, under penalty of perjury consistent with United States Code Title 17, Section 512, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed."

7. Sign the paper.

8. Send the written communication to the following address:

Google Inc.
Attn: Google Legal Support, DMCA Complaints
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

OR Fax to:

(650) 963-3255, Attn: Google Legal Support, DMCA Complaints

Please note that a copy of each legal notice we receive may be sent to one or more third-parties, which may publish and/or annotate it. In particular, your letter (with your personal information removed) will be forwarded to Chilling Effects (http://www.chillingeffects.org ) for publication. You can see an example of such a publication at http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca51.... A link to your published letter will be displayed in Google's search results in place of the removed content.

For more information, please see http://www.google.com/dmca.html

Regards,
The Google Team

Google Inc.
Legal Support
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
USA"

So, this is Google's "Vow to do better???"

Sharon

[Rowena, Group Owner]

Sharon,
Thank you for sharing this very useful item. I agree with you that it is intimidating and potentially a violation of your privacy that DMCA notices are published on Chilling Effects.

You should complain to your Senator, and to Authors Guild.

If I remember, I will try to do something as an activist shareholder (even someone with one share can propose a Motion for the AGM)....

All the best,
Rowena

[Sharon]

Thanks, Rowena. I will do that.

[Sharon]

I complained to my Senators Cardin and Mikulski. Hope their staff reads it.

[Sharon]

Now Google is requiring a letter or fax, so they can have my signature "on file." Then they can accept my emails. Of course, I must be a spammer! Here's the signed fax I sent to my new friends. I modeled after a letter they had posted from PARAMOUNT Pictures to get them to delete access to IRON MAN movies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Google, Inc.
Attn: Google Legal Support, DMCA Complaints
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
FAX: (650) 963-3255, Attn: Google Legal Support, DMCA Complaints

Re: Notice of Unauthorized Use of Copyright Protected KISS OF THE SILVER WOLF

Dear Sir or Madam:

I, Sharon Buchbinder, author and copyright owner of KISS OF THE SILVER WOLF hereby swear under penalty of perjury that I have detected infringements of my Copyright interests on URLs as detailed in the below report.

I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above as allegedly infringing is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. The information provided herein is accurate to the best of our knowledge. Therefore, this facsimile is an official notification to effect removal of the detected infringements listed in the below report. The below documentation specifies the exact location of the infringements.

I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials I will submit via email and allege to be infringing are not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.

I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information I submit in each and every notification I will send to Google will be accurate and that I will be at the time of notification the copyright owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
I hereby request that you immediately remove or block access to the infringing materials, as specified in the copyright laws, and insure the user refrains from using or sharing with others unauthorized copies of my Copyrighted material, KISS OF THE SILVER WOLF.

Evidentiary Information: In Google, using the search terms Kiss of the silver wolf sharon buchbinder free downloads

ASTATALK.COM In one place ASTATALK indicates it has removed this link, however, at another place in the site, despite multiple emails, desideria reposted my work
http://astatalk.com/release/92997/1/S...
TWISTY’S Twisty’s Download has server locations in the US and abroad. http://www.twistysdownload.com/bsc/Sh...

Please respond indicating the actions you have taken to resolve this matter. My contact information is below.

Regards,


Sharon B. Buchbinder, RN, PhD
Author, KISS OF THE SILVER WOLF
sbuchbinder51@yahoo.com

[L.J.]

Oh, Sharon, thank you so much for this letter. I've copied it an saved it as a model for what I'll need to write.

[Sharon]

My pleasure. It is such a PITA to get these things EXACTLY as they indicate. Bleh!

[Rowena, Group Owner]

Thank you, Sharon!

[Sharon]

You are very welcome!

[Sharon]

ONE SMALL STEP!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: [#753915461] DMCA Complaint...
From:The Google Team ...
To: sbuchbinder51@yahoo.com

Hi,

In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have completed processing your infringement complaint. The following webpages have been
removed from Google:

http://www.twistysdownload.com/bsc/Sh...

We will not be taking any action on the following URL as the content appears to already have been removed:

http://astatalk.com/release/92997/1/S... -
Kiss_Of_The_Silver_Wolf/

Please let us know if we can assist you further.

Regards,
The Google Team

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
From: "The Google Team"
Subject: Re: [#753915461] DMCA Complaint
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2011 21:23:15 -0000

> Hi,
>
> We have received your attached DMCA complaint. We are currently reviewing
> the complaint and will contact you when we have completed processing the request. We appreciate your patience during this process.
>
> Please note that a copy of each legal notice we receive is sent to a third-party partner for publication and annotation. As such, your letter
> will be forwarded to Chilling Effects (http://www.chillingeffects.org )
> for publication (with your personal information removed). You can see an example of such a publication at http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca51.... A link to
> your published letter will be displayed in Google's search results in
> place of the removed content.
>
> Regards,
> The Google Team

[Rowena, Group Owner]

Well done, Sharon.

Are you saying that Google can remove files from hosting sites?

Could we have asked Google to remove stuff from Astatalk, and does that mean that we could simply ask Google to remove stuff from Filesonic.com and from Mobilism.org ?

[Sharon]

I don't think they can remove files. I think they can remove the links from Google so if people search for this stuff, they won't find it. That's my understanding of how the Google-meister works.

[L.J.]

Removing this links is stil a coup. It also prevents downloads of your books. Big time congrats.

[Sharon]

Thanks! When you do this, folks, just remember to follow all the Google rules in their posting and emails back to you. That way they *have* to comply.