From 7ea14417b18d268810a350d6772914ac07fd76a3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Hubot Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2016 22:38:46 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] Process DMCA request --- 2016-03-16-MPAA.md | 202 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 202 insertions(+) create mode 100644 2016-03-16-MPAA.md diff --git a/2016-03-16-MPAA.md b/2016-03-16-MPAA.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..8fa1dc79 --- /dev/null +++ b/2016-03-16-MPAA.md @@ -0,0 +1,202 @@ +MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, INC. +15301 VENTURA BOULEVARD, BUILDING E +SHERMAN OAKS, CALIFORNIA 91403 + +[private] + +PHONE: [private] +E-MAIL: [private] + +VIA E-MAIL + +GitHub, Inc. +Attn: DMCA takedown +88 Colin P Kelly Jr St +San Francisco, CA 94107 +copyright@github.com + +February 29, 2016 + +Re: Notice of Infringement for +https://github.com/popcorn-official/popcorn-desktop + +Dear GitHub, Inc.: + +Thank you for your response to our notice letter dated February 18, +2016. We understand that our prior notice may not have met each and +every requirement of your DMCA takedown policy. However, we do not +believe that this should be the end of the inquiry or the end of +GitHub’s responsibility. As you know, GitHub’s Terms of Service +explicitly states that its services may not be used for any illegal or +unauthorized service, including, but not limited to, violation of +copyright and trademark laws. See +https://help.github.com/articles/github-terms-of-service/. And as we +have notified you in our prior notice letter, the GitHub project in +question (popcorn-desktop, and hereinafter the “Project”) is openly +using your platform to further copyright infringement. We hope you +agree that GitHub’s responsibility to not knowingly assist in a massive +copyright infringement operation does not end with its DMCA policy. + +To summarize our prior letter on this issue, the operation and further +development of the Project is contributing to massive infringement of +copyrights in motion pictures and television programs. See +https://github.com/popcorn-official/popcorn-desktop. There are multiple +“forks” of Popcorn Time, all of which are 100% unlicensed and +infringing, and many of which have been subject to litigation and court +orders around the world confirming their infringement. Popcorntime.sh +is one of the more recent infringing “forks,” and we attached several +specific examples of that site’s infringement to our prior letter. The +Project provides to any member of the public the software needed to +develop and release additional infringing Popcorn Time forks, and +thereby enables infringement on a massive scale. + +None of these facts are contested in your response. Accordingly, we can +only assume that GitHub is in agreement that (i) Popcorn Time (including +popcorntime.sh) is internationally known as an illicit enterprise +dedicated to facilitating online copyright infringement; (ii) the +Project hosted on GitHub is designed to allow an unlimited number of +users to fulfill the unlawful purpose of Popcorn Time (massive copyright +infringement), and (iii) our prior letter provided you with notice of +this massive infringement on popcorntime.sh, including by attaching +screenshots of specific works being infringed. + +Rather than dispute any of these facts – and if GitHub does dispute any +of them, please let us know in your response – your letter requests “a +list of URLs to any files that configure the project to access +infringing material, as well as any specific files or sections of source +code that you allege contain infringing material or could be used to +locate infringing material.” As is apparent from even a cursory review +of the Project (and popcorntime.sh), literally all of the Project’s +source code “could be used to locate infringing material”—in fact, this +is its very purpose. This is confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt by +the Project’s inclusion of code referencing APIs that are specifically +designed to locate, provide subtitles for and play infringing television +shows and motion pictures in Popcorn Time forks—for example, the +“providers” folder +(https://github.com/popcorn-official/popcorn-desktop/tree/master/src/app/lib/providers) contains these three APIs: + +• https://github.com/popcorn-official/popcorn-desktop/blob/master/src/app/lib/providers/tvshowtime.js + +• https://github.com/popcorn-official/popcorn-desktop/blob/master/src/app/lib/providers/ysubs.js + +• https://github.com/popcorn-official/popcorn-desktop/blob/master/src/app/lib/providers/tvapi.js + +In sum, the Project provides the necessary “nuts and bolts” to create +new Popcorn Time forks such as popcorntime.sh—whose sole purpose is +copyright infringement. + +* * * + +By this second notification, we are asking again that you remove or +disable access to the infringing Project’s repositories and all related +forks in accordance with either 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3)(A)(ii) (DMCA +“representative list” provision), 17 U.S.C. § 512(i)(1)(A) (DMCA “repeat +infringer” provision), GitHub’s Terms of Service (which prohibit use of +your facilities for copyright infringement), and/or based on +Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. v. Grokster Ltd., 545 U.S. 913, 940 +n.13 (2005) (“the distribution of a product can itself give rise to +liability where evidence shows that the distributor intended and +encouraged the product to be used to infringe”). At a minimum, we would +hope that GitHub will follow the express terms of its own Terms of +Service. + +We are providing this notice based on our good faith belief that the use +of motion pictures and television programs owned by the MPAA Member +Studios in the manner occurring via the Project is not authorized by the +copyright owners, their agents, or the law. The information in this +notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, we are +authorized to act on behalf of the MPAA Member Studios, which own or +control exclusive rights under copyright that are being infringed in the +manner described herein. This letter is without prejudice to the rights +and remedies of the MPAA Member Studios and their affiliates, all of +which are expressly reserved. + +If you have any questions, please contact me by telephone at +[private], or via email at [private]. + +Regards, + +[private] + +--- + +MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, INC. +15301 VENTURA BOULEVARD, BUILDING E +SHERMAN OAKS, CALIFORNIA 91403 + +[private] + +PHONE: [private] +E-MAIL: [private] + +VIA E-MAIL + +GitHub, Inc. +Attn: [private] GitHub Support +88 Colin P Kelly Jr St +San Francisco, CA 94107 +copyright@github.com + +March 9, 2016 + +Re: Notice of Infringement for +https://github.com/popcorn-official/popcorn-desktop + +Dear [private]: + +Thank you for your response and your willingness to take action against +https://github.com/popcorn-official/popcorn-desktop. + +To clarify up-front, our prior notice letters refer to the DMCA and +request removal of popcorn-desktop based, in part, on the DMCA’s +representative list and/or repeat infringer provisions, but they were +not limited to the DMCA. As we confirmed before, and as you undoubtedly +know, the entire Popcorn Time project is 100% unlicensed and infringing +– indeed, it was created and distributed expressly for copyright +infringement, and has been used overwhelmingly for precisely that +purpose. Accordingly, in addition to the DMCA, popcorn-desktop violates +GitHub’s own Terms of Service (precluding use of its platform for +copyright infringement), as well as the Supreme Court’s decision in +Grokster (confirming that “the distribution of a product can itself give +rise to liability where evidence shows that the distributor intended and +encouraged the product to be used to infringe”). Accordingly, we repeat +our request that you remove the entirety of popcorn-desktop. + +If, however, you are only willing to consider GitHub’s obligations under +the DMCA (and ignore its broader obligations under its own Terms of +Service and under U.S. copyright law as confirmed by the Supreme Court), +in response to your request for further identification of other “parts +of the project that configure it to infringe,” in addition to the urls +identified on our prior correspondence, we identify the following +additional parts that are most clearly and unambiguously designed to +find and deliver infringing content to end-users: + +- https://github.com/popcorn-official/popcorn-desktop/blob/master/src/app/lib/providers/ysubs.js and https://github.com/popcorn-official/popcorn-desktop/blob/development/src/app/lib/providers/ysubs.js +(providing subtitles for infringing titles used by proven pirate sites) +- https://github.com/popcorn-official/popcorn-desktop/blob/master/src/app/lib/views/torrent_collection.js and https://github.com/popcorn-official/popcorn-desktop/blob/development/src/app/lib/views/torrent_collection.js +(providing content from KickassTorrents (KAT), a notorious pirate site, +and rarbg, a notorious pirate release group) + +- https://github.com/popcorn-official/popcorn-desktop/blob/master/package.json and https://github.com/popcorn-official/popcorn-desktop/blob/development/package.json +(providing infringing endpoints and allowing for circumvention of +site-blocking via CloudFlare) + +* * * + +We are providing this notice based on our good faith belief that the use +of motion pictures and television programs owned by the MPAA Member +Studios in the manner occurring via popcorn-desktop is not authorized by +the copyright owners, their agents, or the law. The information in this +notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, we are +authorized to act on behalf of the MPAA Member Studios, which own or +control exclusive rights under copyright that are being infringed in the +manner described herein. This letter is without prejudice to the rights +and remedies of the MPAA Member Studios and their affiliates, all of +which are expressly reserved. + +If you have any questions, please contact me by telephone at +[private], or via email at [private]. + +Regards, + +[private]