Google, you didn't ask or nothing. Don't I mean anything to you anymore?
Guns N' Roses bootleggers, beware. An LA Weekly article outlines new threats against the free wheeling mp3 downloadin' world we're all used to. Says a spokesman for Google:
When we are notified of content that may violate our terms of service, including clear notices of alleged copyright infringement, we act quickly to review it, and our response may include removing allegedly infringing material. If material is removed, we make a good-faith effort to contact affected bloggers using the e-mail address they set up when they signed up for Blogger. This is in compliance with the DMCA, which requires that users receive notification after material has been removed.
This is of course a stark departure from their past policy, which included a warning to bloggers that they were hosting questionable or illegal content and that they were required to remove it. Ashley Jex, former new media “handler” for Capitol Records and Suretone Records said:
Blogs will never die, but the golden age of the guerrilla blogger posting whatever they want is coming to an end. There will be arrangements for ad-sponsored content that you can put on your blog, in the vein of sites like Hulu. Eventually, there will be software in place within all the major blog platforms — Movable Type, WordPress and Blogger — where if you’re trying to post an infringing content, you won’t be able to publish. At least, that’s the direction it seems to be heading.
And more exciting restrictions to the free-flow of content to come! Introducing “deep packet inspection,” a kind of data management that “allows ISPs and the RIAA to decrypt and track files sent across the Internet.”
Suddenly, a bunch of telecommunications and music companies would be given the ability to monitor files; in essence, to filter the Internet.
The short term solution? Move to WordPress. We did. But it wont matter for long: Web Sheriff's coming to town!
