Originally Posted by WarChild

Well, I'm not an expert on this by any means, so take what I say with that in mind. I suggest you do your own research and read the DMCA act if you're really interested.

The way I understand it, what you're talking about is more or less the basis of the Viacom suit vs. Youtube (Google). Basically, they're saying that Youtube doesn't do enough, or certainly not all they can, to keep copyright material down.

The safe harbour provision has a bunch of steps that have to be followed. You can't be acting as an editor on the content, you have to register with the copyright office, and on and on.

If Viacom wins, or the DMCA is re-written, it will be a lot easier to go after tube sites.

Then of course there's sites that are outside of the USA, which adds a whole new layer of complexity. Good luck suing a tubesite hosted in Russia. How are you ever going to get them in to a US court? It's going to be very tough.

Originally Posted by WarChild

Well, if Viacom can beat Google, there will be precedent making it easier to go after adult tubes too. Essentially people will be able to sue tube sites saying "Well they're doing the same as YouTube, which you've already established to be illegal ...".

I think a lot of people in these tighter economic times are thinking that as long as Viacom wants to fight the battle and more importantly fund it, let them do it and hope they win. Of course if Google wins, and there's precedent set the other way ... then the uphill battle for copyright owners will get that much worse.

It does seem like things are changing internationally towards better protections for copyright holders. It's slow though, like any change always is.

More or less the DMCA act needs to be completely re-written taking in to mind today's technologies and platforms for content delivery. It's out of date and not working. For that, well I guess lobby your Congressman.