Of All The Ways The DMCA Takedown Process Can Be Responsibly Used, These Are None Of Them

from the Google:-bring-me-the-internet dept

The DMCA takedown notice is a powerful tool. With a minimum of effort, any person can ask for the removal of content or the delisting of a URL. Whether or not they succeed is based on two factors: the relative skill level of the person/bot making the request and the credulity/intestinal fortitude of the receiving intermediary.

In the interest of making the internet a slightly better place to be, here’s some guidance of what not to do when submitting DMCA takedown notices.

DON’T MISTAKE “GOOGLE” FOR “THE INTERNET”

Andromedical — despite its name — makes a device that has little to do with proven medical science. There’s no need to fully describe the device’s purpose, as the description of the allegedly-infringing content provided by the company in its takedown request fills in all the mental blanks.

The ilustrations of the penis with a device and the final results in numbers. The ilustration of the cellular multiplication. The photographies of the doctors Dr. Hellstrom or Dr. Moncada or Dr. Gontero or Dr. Gomez or other members of Andromedical Medical Committee. Chart of several parts of the Andropenis device.

The “photographies” and “ilustrations” Andromedical wishes to have removed probably contain some of these (totally SFW):

As you can see, it’s highly unlikely anyone would expect these photographs to be owned by anyone other than ANDROMEDICAL. And yet, here we are, watching in fascination as Andromedical asks Google to take down Bing’s search results.

Because Bing has yet to offer any sort of transparency on takedown requests, we can’t cross-reference this to see if it was just issued to the wrong search engine. But it’s not uncommon for people — even legislators and lobbyists — to believe that Google is the whole of the internet. Or if not that, then at least one of the only doors.

DON’T BE THIS GUY

No one needs you to play Internet Batman and act as an anti-piracy vigilante squad. You’re not just wasting your time, but you’re wasting the time of others who could be assisting real rightsholders. You’re accomplishing absolutely nothing.

You’re not even making a dent in piracy, especially when your takedown requests veer suddenly from file lockers and torrent links to PBS.org and Genius.com. The real rightsholders have automated scripts that can generate bogus hits thousands of times faster than this person can.

DO NOT CREATE A BOGUS WORK-IN-PROGRESS NOVEL IN HOPES OF OBTAINING SOME SORT OF RETROACTIVE COPYRIGHT OVER ARTICLES DETAILING YOUR CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES BY COPYING-PASTING SAID ARTICLES ONTO YOUR PERSONAL WEBSITE, SURROUNDING THEM WITH “EXCERPTS” OF YOUR “BOOK” AND ISSUING TAKEDOWN NOTICES TARGETING THESE FACTUAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ACTIONS THAT GOT YOU JAILED

Meet Sean Gjerde. Convicted in 2013 of conspiring to commit mortgage fraud, he’s now hoping to turn over a new leaf… by engaging in fraudulent behavior. In a DMCA takedown notice targeting multiple news articles about his conviction — including the FBI’s own press release — Gjerde claims these news reports are actually excerpts from his upcoming novel.

Following the URL he provides, one is greeted by Sean Gjerde’s inescapable name, a short bit of introductory material designed to throw off anyone trying to verify his takedown request and… entire articles pasted into the body of his single post — which he is now claiming belong to him because he surrounded them with a few paragraphs he wrote himself. And the few paragraphs he did write portray him as the grammatically-challenged victim.

This is a excerpt from my new book “Grace Under Pressure” coming next sping as a Amazon exclusive for kindle.

I had always done what I thought was right. How could I have gotten caught up in all this. How is it possible that the Bar didn’t see what I did, what I did for my client. I did what every attorney is supposed to do, keep quiet.

I kept my mouth shut, and my award was that they went after me. These people were supposed to protect me. I should be rewarded, not implicated.

Renee, she is my friend. They are accusing me of steeling from my friend. I took her to the movies and baseball games for heavens sake. I took care of her cats. I can’t believe they would make this all up. I read the lies and could barely continue.

An Elk Grove lawyer already indicted in federal court for conspiracy to commit mail fraud was charged last month by the State Bar with 36 counts of misconduct in which his victims ranged from desperate clients seeking bankruptcy protection to a legal insurance provider.

SEAN PATRICK GJERDE (#217467), 35, misappropriated more than $80,000 from the beneficiary of a trust for which he served as trustee, engaged in a scheme to defraud a legal insurance provider, repeatedly violated a bankruptcy court order, performed incompetently, failed to return unearned fees, lied on court documents and even forged the names of his partner and a client, according to State Bar documents. Many of the charges involved moral turpitude, dishonesty or corruption.

Of course, his protestations of innocence and good intentions are largely undone by his stupid-ass attempt to fake his way into the “controlling rightsholder” position solely for the purpose of burying press coverage of his fraudulent behavior.

And, along those same lines, one more “don’t” for DMCA takedowns.

DON’T IMPERSONATE A FEDERAL OFFICER

This is the United States Secret Service Washington Field Office requesting removal of false report against a federal agency is a federal violation which could put Google company out of business if this report is not immediately removes ripoffreport.com revews complaint/complaint against the united states secret serive. If not remove within 24 hours of this notice all through out the internet should be removed from Google,Yahoo,Aol.com,Altavista.com,Bing.com and all other sites. You are under major violation of infringment rights against a federal agency name. US Secret Service is a Federal Angency and any misuse of the Agencies name for advertisement or for whatever purpose is not allowed at all on the internet or otherwise by Supreme Justice Court Order Remove This Article At Once from all searches or face court violation charges. US SECRET SERVICE/Attorney General Of Va./The House Of Representatives/US Supreme Court

It’s well-known that Ripoff Report doesn’t humor takedown requests. So, if you wish to be taken more seriously, I guess you escalate until maximum ridiculousness is achieved. Not only does this person claim to be a federal agent, but he also claims to have the weight of Congress and the Supreme Court behind his badly-written, poorly-spelled demands.

And, as if asking for the removal of this link from the entire internet (including Altavista!) wasn’t enough, “US Secret Service Agent Joe Morrison” does it three more times. One includes ALL CAPS so you know he means business.

A Public Warning! Ed Magedson is a WANTED FEDERAL FELON AND SO ARE ALL THE AUTHORS OF THE SITE RIPOFFREPORT.COM JUST TYPE IN THE NAME ED MAGEDSON AND FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF ABOUT HIS CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES AND HIS ARREST RECORDS!!!!

These easy-to-follow rules should help keep rightsholders (or the severely-misguided, full-blown imposters, etc.) from embarassing themselves while simultaneously raising the estimation and visibility of the content they originally wanted removed. The takedown notice is a tool, not a toy.

(P.S. There is likely a far better way to let everyone know a certain former employee will no longer be welcome at company events/kids’ birthday parties than sending a notice to Google, Inc.

Vincent Leahy no longer works for our company. He was arrested last year by the FBI on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography. His trial is underway. We do not want to be associated with this individual, as it may affect our business reputation and major losses could be incurred. The web site has already taken down his testimonial but it still appears on the Google search. Any assistance in correcting this problem asap would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Mike

[Note: this may not be an actual DMCA takedown notice. It’s simply listed at Chilling Effects as “Other,” which it certainly is.])

Filed Under: dmca, failures, takedowns