Yahoo! Spain Threatens Blogger Over Piracy How-To

[jmiller]

Yahoo! Spain didn’t take too kindly to Spanish blog network Weblogs SL when they posted a third party tip on how to illegally download videos from Yahoo! Launch on their software blog Genbeta. After threat of legal action, the post has since been removed.

Hat tip to Search Engine Journal for the info.

“Julio Alonso of Weblogs SL has advised Blog Herald via email that he believes this is the first time one of the large internet companies has sent a cease and desist letter to a Spanish blog,” reads SEJ’s post.

The original how-to information was posted on August 23rd at UNEASYsilence, but relaying the information via a larger network set off Yahoo! Spain.

“I’m not even going to pretend I know what laws are possibly being violated. This is an educational post,” admits Derek of UNEASYsilence.

Alonso has removed the post “to avoid the possible legal liabilities that were clearly stated on the email.”

[PaulSymonds]

This is a very interesting situation and touches on a similar issue in that you can literally bully people online i.e. by creating Facebook groups against people yet if you did the same thing offline you would be considered a bully and it is illegal in the way it is done online.
Facebook seem to allow this even though is is morally so wrong and can ruin people's lifes.
This situation the Spanish guy did is I feel actually okay in that it is educational. Is more ethical than a lot of other stuff going on online.

[Doc]

Originally Posted by PaulSymonds

This is a very interesting situation and touches on a similar issue in that you can literally bully people online i.e. by creating Facebook groups against people yet if you did the same thing offline you would be considered a bully and it is illegal in the way it is done online.
Facebook seem to allow this even though is is morally so wrong and can ruin people's lifes.
This situation the Spanish guy did is I feel actually okay in that it is educational. Is more ethical than a lot of other stuff going on online.

Sorry Paul, but I have to disagree on the latter half of your post. Piracy is NOT okay, regardless of what else is going on online. It is theft, pure and simple. The fact that many don't consider it to be stealing doesn't alter that fact.

I do agree with your assessment that online "bullying" is looked at under a very different light. Facebook has a certain layer of deniability, reinforced by their disclaimers, however. You say that what FB does is "morally so wrong and can ruin people's lifes (sic)." How is stealing the work of an artist NOT morally wrong?

[PaulSymonds]

Two points back to you.
The guy did NOT any illegal download. What he did was write about it! That surely has to be okay!! If you can't write about things then you'd remove 50% of movies ever made which involve crime for example and newspapers would disapear.

With piracy also - a question for you Doc. Why do people not complain if someone buys a book and then lends of gives it to a friend? How is it different from sharing music etc?

[Doc]

Originally Posted by PaulSymonds

Two points back to you.
The guy did NOT any illegal download. What he did was write about it! That surely has to be okay!! If you can't write about things then you'd remove 50% of movies ever made which involve crime for example and newspapers would disapear.

Then, if someone puts instructions on constructing a bomb on their website, and subsequently, someone else builds that bomb and kills several people, is the website owner blameless in such a situation?

With piracy also - a question for you Doc. Why do people not complain if someone buys a book and then lends of gives it to a friend? How is it different from sharing music etc?

When you purchase a book (or a CD) you purchase the user-rights to it. You can lend it freely, read/listen to it more than once, even leave it to someone in your will.

Try printing a couple thousand copies of that book, to distribute freely to all your friends and acquaintances, and let me know how that works out for you.

That's how I think it is different.

[PaulSymonds]

Common sense certainly needs to come into play of course. Bombs kill people. Sharing music does not. It is very very simple.

You did not answer the question regards sharing or giving away a book and if that is as illegal as doing the same for music!

[Doc]

Originally Posted by PaulSymonds

Common sense certainly needs to come into play of course. Bombs kill people. Sharing music does not. It is very very simple.

No, sharing music does not kill people, Paul. But I'd also say that my next door neighbor has no right to "share" my garage with others, just because I allowed him access to it to borrow my lawnmower.

You did not answer the question regards sharing or giving away a book and if that is as illegal as doing the same for music!

Actually, I did:

When you purchase a book (or a CD) you purchase the user-rights to it. You can lend it freely, read/listen to it more than once, even leave it to someone in your will.

Try printing a couple thousand copies of that book, to distribute freely to all your friends and acquaintances, and let me know how that works out for you.

That's how I think it is different.

Similarly, if you buy a CD and make a few hundred copies to sell at the swapmeet (or give away as gifts), you have exceeded normal user-rights. Copyright laws are actually fairly clear in this regard: NO RIGHT TO COPY. Such laws apply to written and recorded rights, alike.

[Doc]

I apologize, as it seems I have hijacked this thread, and turned it into a discussion on piracy. I'm more than willing to continue the discussion, but it would probably be better located in a different location than a strictly Yahoo forum.

[PaulSymonds]

Exactly Doc! If you distribute something online you are not copying it. Someone else is copying it. So allowing it to be copied should be legal (and it is in many countries0 because you are not copying it. If you wanted to make it illegal it should be for the recipient.
That anyway does NOT make a difference to the original discussion.
How on earth can you say it is wrong for the guy to write about how to do file sharing?????? It makes no sense. Our newspapers, cinemas and TV would be bare if we do not allow freedom of information. Surely you would not want that???

[Doc]

Originally Posted by PaulSymonds

Exactly Doc! If you distribute something online you are not copying it. Someone else is copying it. So allowing it to be copied should be legal (and it is in many countries0 because you are not copying it. If you wanted to make it illegal it should be for the recipient.
That anyway does NOT make a difference to the original discussion.
How on earth can you say it is wrong for the guy to write about how to do file sharing?????? It makes no sense. Our newspapers, cinemas and TV would be bare if we do not allow freedom of information. Surely you would not want that???

I am most definitely in favor of freedom of information. What I am NOT in favor of, however, is someone facilitating the theft of someone else's property, intellectual or otherwise, and then see them held harmless because they didn't actually steal anything themselves.

If a recording artist's rights existed only in the original media, say a CD, then that artist would never want his song to be played on the radio, or appear on television, because to do so, would open the floodgates and make his CD essentially worthless. If he (or she, ladies) has protection from illegal copying, then it's worth paying to make those CDs. But if after the very first one hits the street, anyone that wants to is allowed to make it available for copying, why would he bother to make the recording?
I think the sharing site that makes the song freely available should be liable for prosecution, along with the pirate that saves it to his MP3 player, without paying for the right to do so. And I most certainly will throw into the mix, the guy that offers instructions on how to break international laws.

Don't think me anal about this, Paul. I've just tired of seeing people ripped off by people that think it's okay, simply because they CAN, or because "everyone does it". That doesn't make it right, and it certainly doesn't make it legal.

I just realized that I've once again hijacked the thread. If you would like to continue this discussion, by all means, let's. But I suggest we start a new thread, so as not to "pirate" this one.

[PaulSymonds]

Hi Doc,
Good conversation and yes, I think i'll let this conversation die for now after this message as I don't want us to distract from the topic. Good conversation though. Thanks.
I agree and understand regards people should be prosecuted etc for theft of products but we'll have to fundamentally agree to disagree regards a person writing about how to do something as I believe in freedom of expression etc. All good Cheers. Paul

[Alliensb]

hello,everyone! I'm new here. just log-in and say hi. hope i can be part of this community. I'm from tamana, Japan.
lol.