back to article MPAA, meet the Streisand effect: Picture ass. slaps Reddit with takedown

The Motion Picture Ass. of America has shot itself in the foot by issuing a copyright takedown notice against a corner of Reddit – and promptly turned a virtually unused subredit into a popular forum. The discussion board, /r/FullLengthFilms, is a place for Redditors to post links to films available for streaming or download, …

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  1. Mark 85

    I guess the MPAA forgot.

    There's no such thing as bad publicity.

    1. Martin-73 Silver badge

      Re: I guess the MPAA forgot.

      I don't think they ever knew it, they're idiots, utterly out of touch with the reality of 2014. Their mindset is still in the 'home taping is killing music' era (which it, by the way, singularly failed to do)

      1. Frumious Bandersnatch

        Re: I guess the MPAA forgot.

        Their mindset is still in the 'home taping is killing music' era.

        That would be the RIAA. A completely different Ass. (as per official el Reg abbreviation standards).

        1. Tom 13

          Re: A completely different Ass

          It might be a different Ass., but it IS the same mindset.

          1. Frumious Bandersnatch
            Thumb Up

            Re: A completely different Ass

            It might be a different Ass., but it IS the same mindset.

            OK, I'll have to climb down off my horse and agree with you ... it is an ass of the same colour.

  2. Andrew Jones 2

    Wouldn't you think that if there is somewhere on the internet posting a collection of links to pirated content, the MPAA would be better off leaving that part of the internet alone and instead going after the sites that are being linked to? In effect the people of Reddit are surely making the MPAA's job much easier for them?!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "and instead going after the sites that are being linked to"

      Torrents don't link to a 'site'.

  3. Frumious Bandersnatch

    Streisand Effect? Nah.

    More like a flash in the pan. Quite like Hollywood "movies" (note: they're also "talkies"!) in that respect.

    1. Tom 13

      Re: Streisand Effect? Nah.

      But I thought we liked flash.

      ...

      Except when it comes from Adobe.

  4. Viper1j

    Not the first time for these retards..

    I remember my kid brother calling me one day, after a CN story about the MPAA, RIAA, and Napster.

    He said: "You mean I can get music for free? Really?

    If the story hadn't appeared, he would have been clueless to this day..

    One day, these people will put somebody in charge with more than two active brain cells.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Not the first time for these retards..

      You know; the MPAA story reminds me that I haven't seen what's on YIFY for a week or two.....

  5. croc

    BANNED IN BOSTON!!!!!!

    OK, I'll go then...

  6. corestore

    " a link appeared to a copy of the 2010 film Edge of Darkness, which was adapted from the British TV series of the same name."

    Who in hell would download *that*?!

    The original was an absolute masterpiece, possibly the best thing ever filmed for TV.

    1. Tim Roberts 1

      as is usually the case ...

      Yes the original was a masterpiece. It is, or at least was 2 years ago, possible to get the series on DVD from the BBC shop. Now it seems a bit dated but still an enjoyable series for those of us that liked it the first time around. No I didn't watch the movie version. In my experience most movie versions of good series are a steaming pile of crap in comparison

    2. Graham Marsden
      Thumb Up

      For those who have never seen it...

      ... the original Edge of Darkness is being repeated on BBC4 starting at 10pm on Monday 30th!

      1. corestore

        Re: For those who have never seen it...

        To know is to die...

      2. Tim Roberts 1

        Re: For those who have never seen it...

        Nice if you live in the UK. Sadly - actually happily for most things - some of us live in the anitpodes, so DVDS's are somewhat more useful than BBC4. Anyway enjoy the re-run!

        1. DiViDeD

          Re: For those who have never seen it...

          ahem

          Were you, as a fellow antipodes dweller, to drop a line to tekk1 at techie dot com, you might well hear something to your advantage. But who am I to say?

  7. T. F. M. Reader

    Until now

    I have never heard of that particular dark corner of the Internet.

    Now I find myself wondering if one could find a link to Yentl over there...

  8. Peshman
    Coat

    At least Michael Flatley can sleep at night...

    Even if anyone had bothered to upload any torrents of his crap, nobody is downloading it.

  9. Blarkon

    Reddit owned by a big company

    Reddit is ultimately a company with assets that doesn't want to end up getting dragged through court for providing a forum for linking to pirated material. If you started posting links to pirated content in the Reg comments section, you'd similarly expect to see it deleted.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Stop

      Re: Reddit owned by a big company

      Go back, reread....

      BTW if you moderate the forums, you are responsible for content, if you don't you're not.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Reddit owned by a big company

        BTW if you moderate the forums, you are responsible for content, if you don't you're not.

        Within limits - "ich habe es nicht gewusst"(*) is not going to help you if someone posts hate speech, for instace, and if you don't moderate you'll get the forums taken over by pron and junk merchants..

        (*) "I didn't know" - famous attempted excuse for WW II war crimes

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Reddit owned by a big company

          "I didn't know" - and still very popular and effective by certain newspaper publishers, although the modern take would be "I have no recollection of that event"

        2. Tom 13

          Re: Within limits

          Not in the US. The distinction is whether it is edited or filtered. If you edit, you are responsible. If you're running an automatic BBS type system with filters you aren't responsible until you receive a take down notice. In this context moderator = edited.

          1. tazmanian

            Re: Within limits

            No, that is not the case under US law. Please stop spreading false or poorly understood legal information. Nowhere in Section 230 of the CDA does it say that if you edit you are responsible for content. Normal editing which does not change the meaning does not expose you to responsibility, and moderating definitely does not expose you to responsibility. Only if you change the meaning while editing might you be responsible.

            https://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal/liability/230

            The EFF wrote:

            > Do I lose Section 230 immunity if I edit the content?

            >

            > Courts have held that Section 230 prevents you from being held liable even if you

            > exercise the usual prerogative of publishers to edit the material you publish. You

            > may also delete entire posts. However, you may still be held responsible for

            > information you provide in commentary or through editing. For example, if you edit

            > the statement, "Fred is not a criminal" to remove the word "not," a court might find

            > that you have sufficiently contributed to the content to take it as your own. Likewise,

            > if you link to an article, but provide a defamatory comment with the link, you may

            > not qualify for the immunity.

  10. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

    Viral advertising

    Some people will never pay for films, so advertising links to torrents causes no loss of revenue from them. Some people like to try before they buy, so Streisanding this corner of reddit increases revenue.

  11. Chozo
    Facepalm

    be still my paranoia

    Wait till the MPAA find out it was the original version that has the infamous 'Plutonium Lunacy' scene not the 2010 cinematic abomination.

    Of course what's really kinda wierd is to be watching that clip again after so many years with the big NATO conference taking place in the UK later this year.... be still my paranoia

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: be still my paranoia

      Thanks for that link - I only knew of the Hollywood version. So, thanks to this conversation I now know there is a series worth watching.

  12. b166er

    I must thank them for drawing my attention to this.

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