YouTube Yanks Free Tibet Video After IOC Pressure 482
RevWaldo writes "The International Olympic Committee filed a copyright infringement claim yesterday against YouTube for hosting video of a Free Tibet protest at the Chinese Consulate in Manhattan Thursday night. The video depicts demonstrators conducting a candlelight vigil and projecting a protest video onto the consulate building; the projection features recent footage of Tibetan monks being arrested and riffs on the Olympic logo of the five interlocking rings, turning them into handcuffs. YouTube dutifully yanked the video, but it can still be seen on Vimeo. (Be advised; there is some brief footage of bloody, injured monks.)"
I'll judge them in 3 days. (Score:5, Insightful)
It wouldn't surprise me if the legal situation at YouTube was that they yank any clip against which there is a properly filed copyright complaint, and that they follow up later on the actual applicability of copyright law.
I think the telling point as to whether they cave to pressure from the IOC and China will be when their lawyers have a chance to review the footage and determine that there is nothing infringing going on, if they put the video back.
I'm setting a calendar event to go back and look for it in three days, and am ready to judge the G-folk harshly if they're unwilling to stick up for this obvious expression of free speech.
Copyright Protection (Score:3, Insightful)
This is pretty clear cut (Score:5, Insightful)
How about accurately titling your video next time? I don't think trying to scam people looking for the opening ceremonies into viewing propaganda for your cause is the best way to get sympathy.
Re:The IOC cannot allow unofficial use of the ring (Score:4, Insightful)
Google = YouTube (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:The IOC cannot allow unofficial use of the ring (Score:5, Insightful)
These people aren't trying to identify anything else as the Olympics. They're trying to say the IOC is complicit with suppression and torture. The Olympic rings are being used to identify who they're supposed to identify, so there's no trademark issue.
Re:I'll judge them in 3 days. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I'll judge them in 3 days. (Score:4, Insightful)
Wait, so... massacring people is more advanced than having an out-of-date religion?
Wouldn't it be better that the caste system be discarded AND China stop trying to be stank hos? Can't they both have faults? Just because you argue that they are "bad" does not make China "good".
Re:But those Jihad Videos can stay up just fine... (Score:4, Insightful)
Yup, videos of Jihadists killing American Soldiers can stay up. Videos recruiting terrorists can stay up.
Of course videos that are against Jihad MUST be taken down as well.
Gotta wonder about the people at You-Tube, they really seem to hate freedom.
Blah Blah Blah. This is not about the people at Youtube, it's about copyright laws and the DMCA. They didn't take these videos down of their own accord (and neither would they take those others down unless they were against the terms of use or there was a legal requirement to).
The DMCA has long been abused to suppress free speech. Everybody knows it. Nobody cares.
Abominations and Copyright (Score:5, Insightful)
The attacks upon monks in Tibet as well as the general lack of human rights in China are a moral abomination that over ride notions of copyright. There is a thing called natural law and every human being has a deep moral obligation to stand up for the oppressed regardless of circumstances.
If anything America and all other nations should be deeply ashamed of allowing any commerce at all with China including Olympics or other sporting events. Cut the phone lines and to hell with any nation that persecutes people over religion.
Im asking youtube execs from here : (Score:3, Insightful)
decide, users' wish against chinese government's whish.
noone should even need to tell you which one you should choose, you idiots. dont let your lawyers run your service. lawyers do not increase popularity of a web service. they decrease it.
Re:But those Jihad Videos can stay up just fine... (Score:2, Insightful)
Gotta wonder about the people at You-Tube, they really seem to hate freedom.
Anyone who claims that another party "hates freedom" based on nothing more than an uninformed opinion deserves to be culled from the heard. It's just idiotic rhetoric that serves no purpose but to instill fear/anger in the minds of those lemmings to dim to realize there are other people in the world besides themselves.
Right up there with statements like "Obama hates America", "Liberals want higher gas prices", and "Republicans want another terrorist attack". Freaking retarded.
-Rick
Re:In response to your sig... (Score:5, Insightful)
Protected Satire (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I'll judge them in 3 days. (Score:3, Insightful)
Just as far as chronology goes there are many more primitive religions that Christianity pretty much every major religion other than Islam is older than Christianity
Er, but he made no mention of "chronology", and "older than" is certainly not synonymous with "more primitive than".
No, it's not really clear cut (Score:5, Insightful)
According to the screenshot, the video was titled "Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony." It's not about censorship, it's about copyright, and was probably automatically removed based just on the title.
What, does the IOC have copyright on the word "Olympics"?
I imagine they're objecting to the image of the five colored rings that's shown in the video for a second or two. And if that's the case, this is a total abuse of a copyright infringement claim.
First, you'd think that showing the rings for a time that's probably less than 2% of the entire clip would qualify as fair use. Secondly, there's an issue of free speech. Are we no longer allowed to identify organizations by their logos?
Re:The IOC cannot allow unofficial use of the VISA (Score:4, Insightful)
But it's fine to put them on Visa cards and checks. I think the latter diminishes the value of the symbol much more than the former!
Hope the maker of the video fights back (Score:5, Insightful)
If I understand current US copyright law (DCMA, cough) correctly, the IOC can demand that YouTube yanks the clip now. But at least in theory, they do so under penalty of perjury.
The person who put it up can file a counterclaim and say that he believes the video does not infringe any copyright. I think fair use might cover this use of the Olympic Rings, and I'd really like to see the EFF getting behind a lawsuit in such a case.
Re:So... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I'll judge them in 3 days. (Score:4, Insightful)
There are two different logos shown in the video, one being the 5 rings as handcuffs in black and white, which should be protected under fair use. But at the beginning of the projection, there is a full color illustration of the IOC's trademark 5-rings.
Now, if someone where to clip out that 1/2 a second of frames and re-post the video, I would be hard pressed to defend the IOC's actions.
-Rick
So both philosophies are flawed.... (Score:5, Insightful)
But only one side invaded a sovereign nation in enforce their will upon it. That invader is by default the 'bad guy'
Sorry, that's just how it goes.
Re:I'll judge them in 3 days. (Score:5, Insightful)
Because suing Amnesty International would be PR suicide?
Re:I'll judge them in 3 days. (Score:5, Insightful)
Mostly true statements. However, this is false:
They are required to accurately represent the business to the shareholders. But if they said "Google/YouTube will fight for freedom of speech first, profits second", then they would have to live by that standard. I don't know what the rules on changing the nature of the company are, but stockholder value does not have to be the overriding concern. In fact, in some cases it cannot be (see the Microsoft offer to Yahoo!).
Re:The IOC cannot allow unofficial use of the ring (Score:3, Insightful)
It's not the IOC trademark - it's not even rings. It's handcuffs. Take a look at the "Reporters Without Borders" press freedom site. That's basically the image. There's no danger of dilution or confusion - it's mocking them. And if there's anything that those pompous, self-important gasbags and sleazeballs don't like, it's being made fun of. Bleah. The IOC and the Chinese government deserve each other.
Re:Ah the IOC (Score:3, Insightful)
International Omission Committee (Score:2, Insightful)
What the hell? They refuse to take any measure against the chinese and founded that on them not being a political institution. Now they play Chinas watchdog and tell a US site to take down something that is completely legitimate under non-chinese law. Screw the olympics this is all a big joke and some of these bastards will get rich through this. Unbe-fuckin-lievable.
Re:I'll judge them in 3 days. (Score:3, Insightful)
Considering all the mess that IOC and some national Olympic committees has been involved with I no longer have any interest in the Olympic games.
Re:In response to your sig... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes it was pre-1950 but there was never a democratic government in Tibet. If China pulled out tomorrow what would happen in Tibet? One has to wonder. I remember when Germany was reunified. At first there was great joy and then everybody stopped and looked and thought... Good grief now what do we do! It was a huge mess. Imagine the same thing but without West Germany to help!
West Germany had a common heritage with East Germany to say the least and had decades of democratic government, freedom, economic reform, and economic growth. That was a best case scenario and it was still a long and complicated process.
Re:In response to your sig... (Score:4, Insightful)
Indeeed. I know little of Tibetian Bhuddism, but I spent a year in Thailand while in the USAF, and Thailand is a Bhuddhist country.
The Bhuddhists worship life itself. I dont see how even an athiest could have a problem with that.
Re:Help! Help! I'm being repressed! (Score:5, Insightful)
Dude the Olympic ideal died a long time ago. It is all about who will make millions selling sneakers.
Sorry but that is what it has turned into.
And in this case it is also to show off to the world that China is a new wealthy world power. So yes I feel that it is totally legit to bring up China's political issues.
Trust me if it was in the US and people wanted to protest by blocking the marathon their would be people on Slashdot screaming about Freedom of Speech.
As much as I like the Olympics coming to the US maybe they should just make it always in Athens.
Or maybe they should pick the poorest country with a good history of Human rights and then all the rich nations chip in to build the infrastructure and give that nation a shot in the arm.
Maybe that would bring back the spirit.
This was a good post, not "flamebait" (Score:4, Insightful)
Youtube's not just tilted in relation to China/IOC's shenanigans here, they've regularly shown bias in what they'll delete on the pro/anti-George Bush, pro/anti-Islam, pro/anti-terrorism, and pro/anti-$cientology fronts.
Hell, they even give random people grief [theregister.co.uk] whenever some jumped-up 2-bit shyster attached to a media company comes calling.
If the post on the Pakistani government's stuff is "5, interesting" there's no way the following post deserves "-1, Flamebait" except that someone with an axe to grind decided to abuse the mod system early.
Re:In response to your sig... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I'll judge them in 3 days. (Score:2, Insightful)
This isn't just about the politics of an upper/lower class system. Nor is it about "how democratic" Tibet is/was. Western countries are not perfect in this regard either. Why would you expect pre-Chinese Tibet to be a Utopia anyways?
How about the fact that the Chinese government seems to have no respect for Tibetan culture and identity?
Re:I'll judge them in 3 days. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I'll judge them in 3 days. (Score:5, Insightful)
All companies are required to limit their liability. Shareholders can take managers to court if they willfully reduce the value of the company's shares.
Keeping copyrighted material on your site, knowing you will be sued and almost certainly lose would surely come under the term willful.
Saying something like:
That could also come under the term willful.
Also, companies can make any statement to their customers they like. They don't have to live by them. Their only nod they make to the customer is via the marketplace and a few trading standards costraints. If the customer stops buying, they change what they are doing.
a
In Soviet Russia - Moscow-80 (Score:4, Insightful)
I was young, but I remember West boycotting the 1980 Olympics in the USSR — Russia's suppression of democracy in Czechoslovakia (military [wikipedia.org]), Hungary (military [wikipedia.org]), and Poland (political [wikipedia.org]) were still fresh, as was the USSR's decision to, once again, prohibit its citizens a move to another country [wikipedia.org].. I could not really understand things then, but I'm disgusted, that the rest of "the Western Civilization" has deteriorated over the years down to the levels of the IOC...
Oh, and the 2014 Winter Olympics will be in Sochi — only a few miles away from Georgia. Is not Putin the coolest [time.com]? He sure is, and now he is hot too...
Commence the "troll" moderations, and "insightful" responses on how the US is just as bad...
Re:In response to your sig... (Score:4, Insightful)
I know little of Tibetian Bhuddism
But apparently that is not something you'll let stop you from having opinions on it?
"The Buddhists" are not some coherent group. And just because a religion teaches righteous behavior, that is no guarantee that those ideals will actually be followed. Power corrupts, and just because you're supposed to be a Buddhist does not make you immune to that.
Re:In response to your sig... (Score:1, Insightful)
The Bhuddism practised by Tibetants is very different from the 'main stream' Bhuddism practised in East Asia (i.e. the Zen masters). The main stream Bhuddism has more than 1 billiion followers in East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Thailand) and the Tibetant Bhuddism (called the Lama Regligion) is only practised by Tibetants and Mongolians (like several million?). In fact the title 'Dalai Lama' was given by a Mongolian tribe leader to a Tibetant monk some 700 years ago.
I was really shocked when a guy asked me whether Dalai Lama is the 'Pope' of Bhuddism in China. Man, they can't teach average Americans in this way!
I told him there is no 'Pope' in Bhuddism, and the 'Lama Religion' is only practised by a small amount of people, and is famous for its barbaric/voodooistic rituals.
And Dalai Lama is not even the biggest guy in town in Lama Religion. There is another high monk called 'Banzan', who is equal to Dalai in terms of rank in the religion. He and Dalai are teacher and student to each other, depending on which one is younger (you know they re-incarnate so this happens). The current Dalai Lama is the 14th one, and the current Banzan is the 10th one. Part of the reason there are more Dalais in the history than Banzans is that Dalai is more involved in the political affairs in Tibet's history, thus this guy re-incarnates faster (like assassinated, dethroned by the Emperor, etc.)
Re:In response to your sig... (Score:3, Insightful)
Well I suppose on those lines, as an American I'd like to say: I would not want to be judged by my country's history post 2000 either. :-S
Re:"(Be advised; there is some ... bloody" (Score:3, Insightful)
While there certainly are those who bloodlust, the majority of us do not think for one second of killing someone in a video game as real. I don't aim my H&K-91 in COD4 at [DMZ]Turkeyburger and think of actually killing the dweeb sitting behind his keyboard. At the same time I don't take personal offense at [DMZ]Turkeyburger killing me. It's a frigging game!
Real violence, on the other hand, causes a ripple throughout society of negative waves. It fosters other violence, it leaves people to grieve the victim and strips away the victims basic human rights. And some people are, Thank God, still sensitive to this. That's why it's not normal to put a few slugs into someone who slows down the check out line at the A&P or slice someone's throat because they're an easy target. These sensitive feelings translate into what we call morals.
For a very small number of people this line becomes blurred and they take the competitive and violent nature of the video game into real life. We call these people psychopaths. It's my humble opinion that these people were just looking for an excuse for their lack of morals to begin with but more and more it seems that they don't even look for an excuse.
So real violence does mostly bring about an emotional response. Video game violence normally doesn't. That's the nature of people today. Also consider that you've conveniently just slotted everyone reading these articles into the same little box. From your post we must all be gamers who don't mind a little bit of the old ultraviolence. While I agree that this is probably a norm for around here I think it's far from an absolute truth.
Re:In response to your sig... (Score:3, Insightful)
It suggests a high rate of infant mortality, poor neonatal care, high risk of accident among the young, and likely high incidence of disease.
What the actual reasons for short average lifespan I have no idea.
Re:I'll judge them in 3 days. (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah, pretty much.
Attempts to force countries to become kind and loving and happy don't usually work too well. There are a couple of counterexamples (West Germany and Japan after WWII are two) but generally they required utterly destroying the infrastructure and massacring the population beforehand. In places where you're unwilling or unable to do that (like Iraq), such attempts just piss people off and make them hate you.
That said, the whole Tibet thing seems kind of overblown. It's hardly the first, or the last, time that one country attacked and conquered another with the intent of annexing it. And in this case it was a backwards, mean place which wasn't even recognized by most countries, and with a somewhat short and uncertain history of independence from the country which eventually took it back.
It would have been better if China had left Tibet alone, but on the other hand it seems that there are worse things happening in Africa practically every day and nobody gives a shit.