Month: June 2018

YouTube is known to be a breeding ground for creators. At the same time, however, it’s also regularly used to share copyrighted material without permission.

While copyright holders can issue takedown notices to remove infringing content, a preliminary ruling by the Commercial Court in Vienna has decided this is not sufficient.

The ruling follows a complaint from local television channel Puls 4. After a thorough review of YouTube’s functionalities, the Court concluded that YouTube has an obligation to prevent third parties from uploading infringing content.

In its defense, YouTube argued that it’s a neutral hosting provider under the provisions of the E-Commerce Act. As such, it should be shielded from direct liability for the actions of users.

However, the Commercial Court disagreed, noting that YouTube takes several motivated actions to organize and optimize how videos are displayed. By doing so, it becomes more than a neutral hosting provider.

“Through the connections, sorting, filtering and linking, in particular by creating tables of contents according to predefined categories, determining the surfing behavior of users and creating a tailor-made surfing proposal, offering help etc, YouTube leaves on the role of a neutral intermediary and therefore cannot claim the host provider privilege,” the Court declared.

As a consequence, YouTube will have to take measures to ensure that no copyright-infringing videos are uploaded in the future. This sounds a lot like the upload filters which are part of the EU’s planned copyright reform.

According to Puls 4, the Court’s decision has “the potential to revolutionize the Internet.” While it is limited to copyright infringement and YouTube, the company notes that it could be expanded to other areas and services as well.

“The media, who call themselves social networks, will have to recognize that they must also take responsibility for the content through which they earn many millions. This is a real gamechanger,” says Markus Breitenecker, Managing Director of Puls 4.

YouTube responded by informing Austrian press that the judgment will be “examined in detail”.

“We are keeping all options open, including an appeal,” a spokesman said. “YouTube takes copyright protection very seriously and provides rights owners with tools and resources to protect and exploit their content.”

The current ruling is not yet legally binding, as it has yet to be confirmed, so this isn’t the last we’ll hear of the case.

TF reached out to Puls 4 to find out how YouTube’s Content ID system factors into the case, and whether that is sufficient or not in their view, but at the time of publication we had yet to receive a response.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

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Googles Android missbraucht nach Ansicht der EU-Wettbewerbskommission seine Marktmacht. Eine Strafe in Höhe von bis zu 11 Milliarden US-Dollar ist möglich. (Google, Android)

Conservatives in the US have called for a boycott of Netflix, following several of the streaming platform's recent moves which have angered Republicans.

Netflix recently appointed Susan Rice, former national security adviser to President Obama, to its board of directors, launched a new show by comedian Michelle Wolf, who stunned attendees at the White House Correspondents Association dinner with a scathing attack on President Trump, and has just entered into a multi-year exclusivity deal with the Obamas for yet unannounced original programming. All moves that, conservatives say, highlight the streaming platform's increasing liberal bias.

Many have taken to Twitter to express their outrage, and to call for a boycott of Netflix using the hashtag #BoycottNetflix. Some have already cancelled their subscriptions.

Data released by polling firm YouGov does show a 16% drop in the positive-impression rating among self-identified Republicans for the first part of 2018 leading through to May 31, which seems to suggest Netflix's recent moves have had an effect on conservatives.

However, the same data also showed a 15% increase in the positive-impression rating for Netflix among Democrats, and Netflix remains the second most popular TV network in terms of favorability among all groups.

The Obamas have said their Netflix original programming will be apolitical, something confirmed by Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos. 

"This is not the Obama Network. There's no political slant to the programming," said Sarandos.

[via Variety]

Microsofts April-2018-Update für Windows 10 hat so viele Fehler, als würden drei Insider-Ringe nicht ausreichen. Das Unternehmen setzt seine Nutzer als Betatester ein und reagiert dann auch noch langsam auf Fehlermeldungen - das muss sich ändern. Ein IMHO von Oliver Nickel (Windows 10, Microsoft)

Nachdem Google die sieben Bildbearbeitungsprogramme der Nik Collection früher verschenkte, hat DxO die Windows- und Mac-Werkzeuge übernommen und eine neue Version vorgestellt, die wieder Geld kostet. (Bildbearbeitung, Grafiksoftware)

Die General-Motors-Tochter Cadillac will 2020 ihr Fahrassistenzsystem Super Cruise in allen Fahrzeugen anbieten. Super Cruise ist ein teilautomatisiertes System: Der Fahrer muss dabei überwacht werden, damit er nicht einschläft. (Autonomes Fahren, Technologie)

Lenovo hat das Moto Z3 Play vorgestellt. Im Vergleich zum Moto Z2 Play gibt es ein 2:1-Display und eine Dualkamera. Bei der Akkukapazität gibt es keine Verbesserung, und es fehlt eine Kopfhörerbuchse. Das Smartphone liefert Mittelklasse-Ausstattung zum Preis des Oneplus 6 mit Oberklasse-Ausstattung. (Lenovo, Smartphone)

Google will Android-Entwicklern eine einfache Möglichkeit geben, Pushnachrichten mit einer Ende-zu-Ende-Verschlüsselung zu versehen. Project Capillary setzt dabei beim Firebase Cloud-Messaging-Dienst an. (Security, Google)

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