Sat, 17 Dec 2011
Computer fraud and abuse by Universal Music Group
It seems that Universal Music Group willfully misrepresented its copyright interest and probably violated its service contract with YouTube. By my understanding of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, UMG likely took actions that exceed authorized access, subjecting it to criminal prosecution. (I am just a computer enthusiast and not a lawyer, so I welcome corrections from others.)
The emerging details, reported by Wired.com's Threat Level blog, are as follows:
YouTube said Friday that Universal Music abused the video-sharing site’s piracy filters when it employed them to take down a controversial video of celebrities and pop superstars singing and praising the notorious file-sharing service Megaupload.
In particular, Google created a system for antipiracy that is being abused by UMG:
“Our partners do not have the right to take down videos from YT unless they own the rights to them or they are live performances controlled through exclusive agreements with their artists, which is why we reinstated it,” Google-owned YouTube said.
I look forward to a speedy criminal prosecution of the employees or board of Universal Music Group. If that is not feasible, perhaps the organization itself should be put behind bars.
Even if Megaupload.com fails in its own lawsuit against UMG, I eagerly await the criminal prosecution of UMG as in another case where Federal prosecutors had to get involved.
