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Facebook last week removed the Facebook page of popular tech website Ars Technica, over what the social network calls "DMCA abuse".
Some of the pages were only gone for a few hours, but it once again highlights just how easy it is to abuse the DMCA and copyright laws that give too much power to copyright holders. In this particular case, the DMCA notices weren't even real, and yet, Facebook still acted on them.
Facebook then issued a statement apologizing for the error, before pointing out the fact that DMCA abuse was a real issue within the Internet industry, and that it's something companies have to fight against, thanks to overprotective legislations such as the DMCA. Here is Facebook's full statement:
Some of the pages were only gone for a few hours, but it once again highlights just how easy it is to abuse the DMCA and copyright laws that give too much power to copyright holders. In this particular case, the DMCA notices weren't even real, and yet, Facebook still acted on them.
Facebook then issued a statement apologizing for the error, before pointing out the fact that DMCA abuse was a real issue within the Internet industry, and that it's something companies have to fight against, thanks to overprotective legislations such as the DMCA. Here is Facebook's full statement:
We have investigated a number of recent intellectual property cases and have restored four pages as a result. We apologize for any inconvenience. Abuse of DMCA and other intellectual property notice procedures is a challenge for every major Internet service and we take it seriously. We have invested significant resources into creating a dedicated team that uses specialized tools, systems and technology to review and properly handle intellectual property notices.
This system evaluates a number of factors when deciding how to respond and, in many cases, we require the reporter to provide additional information before we can take action. As a result of these efforts, the vast majority of intellectual property notices that we receive are handled without incident. Of course, no system is perfect and we are always striving to improve our practices. As such, we will be considering the results of our investigation into this matter as we continue to refine our systems and procedures.
This system evaluates a number of factors when deciding how to respond and, in many cases, we require the reporter to provide additional information before we can take action. As a result of these efforts, the vast majority of intellectual property notices that we receive are handled without incident. Of course, no system is perfect and we are always striving to improve our practices. As such, we will be considering the results of our investigation into this matter as we continue to refine our systems and procedures.