YTMP3.nu, one of the largest YouTube ripping sites on the web, is trying to pinpoint competitors who allegedly sent abusive takedown notices to Google in an SEO battle. The company behind the site filed a lawsuit and previously obtained email addresses of the defendants. In addition, they now want Google, Cloudflare and Namecheap to share more information, including IP-addresses.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Like many other stream-ripper services, YTMP3.nu had many of its search results removed from Google’s search engine.
DMCA notices sent by legitimate music industry groups such as the BPI and RIAA contain claims that the site violates the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision. However, the YouTube-ripping service also views itself as a victim of bogus takedown notices sent by one or more competitors.
The site previously asked Google to stop processing these purported abusive notices but when that failed to produce results, it filed a lawsuit at a California federal court, accusing the unknown senders of unfair business practices and violations of the DMCA.
YTMP3 Sues ‘Competitors’
The complaint was filed by CreativeCode Ltd, the company behind YTMP3.nu and sister site Y2mate.nu, which is incorporated in Anguilla. The identities of the defendants is unknown, however, and they are still listed as “John Does”.
Hoping to identify their opponents, CreativeCode previously obtained a subpoena, requiring Google to share details about the alleged abusers. Google complied with the request and shared a list of email addresses, but that didn’t help to identify any named defendants.
The court had set May 15 as the deadline to name the defendants but, on that day, CreativeCode informed the court that it needs more time. The company also requested follow-up subpoenas to obtain more information.
“The prior discovery permitted by the Court did not lead to the discovery of the identity and location of the Doe Defendants, and Plaintiff now requests additional discovery in accordance with the Court’s prior order,” the company wrote on Wednesday.
Google, Namecheap, and Cloudflare
The new subpoenas target Namecheap, Cloudflare, and Google. While Google already shared the Gmail addresses of the alleged abusers, CreativeCode now requests additional information including names, payment details, and IP-addresses.
The YouTube ripper believes the additional information will help identify the defendants, but admits that more discovery may be needed at a later stage.
“Plaintiff expects that this additional discovery will lead either directly to information identifying the Doe defendants, or at least internet protocol (IP) addresses that can thereafter be used, after further discovery, to identify the Doe defendants,” it writes.
IP-addresses and More
Specifically, the proposed order seeks the following information from Google, all related to Gmail addresses.
“Such information shall include, without limitation, IP addresses, names, current and permanent addresses, telephone numbers, payment information, and any metadata related to these email addresses to determine Doe Defendants’ identities and locations.”
In addition to the Gmail addresses, CreativeCode also has a list of domain names, including Mp3juice.blog, Yt-mp3.blog, www-y2mate.blog, mp3-juices.app, and pppyoutube.com. These ‘appear to be associated’ with the suspected defendants, the company informs the court.
Domain registrar Namecheap and internet infrastructure provider Cloudflare are asked to share all identifying information they have on file regarding these domains, similar to the Google request.
How these domains are connected to the defendants isn’t immediately clear, however. CreativeCode mentions an internal investigation that led to these domain names, without providing further detail.
New Spam Threats
In addition to the case history and the nature of the abusive notices, the request also mentions a recent ‘threat’ the YouTube ripper received via email. There’s suspicion that one of the defendants could be the author.
“[R]ecently Plaintiff was apparently contacted by an individual making threats against Plaintiff that they would ‘spam negative link to your all domain !!’ unless the individual’s demands were met.
“Plaintiff has reason to believe that this individual has been behind the actions forming the basis of the Complaint,” CreativeCode adds.
What type of demands were made isn’t mentioned, but that shouldn’t be relevant for this discovery request. All in all, CreativeCode hopes that the court will allow the additional discovery. If not, it may be hard, or even impossible, to find the alleged abusers.
Instant update: The application is granted but the “payment information” is limited to names, addresses, not amount numbers and the like.
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A copy of the ex-parte application for additional discovery is available here (pdf) and a copy of the proposed order can be found here (pdf)
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
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