shouting loudly

Researchers Trick Copyright Cops: Laser Printers Accused of Infringement

In a study of copyright holders’ automated tools for generating DMCA takedown notices, University of Washington researchers successfully demonstrate that these automated methods are hardly sound evidence of actual infringement.

For the study, “Tracking the Trackers,” the researchers framed several innocent IP addresses, making it look like they were using BitTorrent to trade copyrighted content.

A more sophisticated investigation on the part of the copyright cops (read: trying to download the files) would have found that there was no infringement on these IP addresses. Yet these spoofs yielded actual takedown notices–threatening letters from industry lawyers to the university-as-ISP.

Several of the takedown notices identified IP addresses used by university printers.

We still know little about actual data collection methods, but the study is a real wake-up call. In the words of Ed Felten (my source), it shows that “takedowns [are] based on inconclusive evidence.” The study’s authors conclude that deliberate, malicious spoofing is not necessary to generate false positives; real people may be hit by this scattershot method of generating accusations.

This is particularly problematic considering the severe effects that sometimes result from just one takedown notice. End users may lose computing privileges and face other disciplinary problems, especially at colleges.

PS The study’s lead author, Michael Piatek, is also involved in some other really interesting projects.