[Arstechnica] EFF opens the « Takedown Hall of Shame »

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Missing that wonderful surge of anger that comes from hearing about some bogus attempt at shutting down free speech with a DMCA takedown notice? The EFF has you covered, opening a new « Hall of Shame » to highlight the worst of the worst.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a big fan of naming and shaming. When it launched its patent-busting project a few years back, the activist group put up a « Wanted by EFF marshals » poster; eight of the ten patents on the list have already been narrowed, invalidated, or reexamined

A careful look at the list is instructive. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is on the list because gay-marriage supporters somehow got hold of the audition tapes for NOM’s best-known ad, tapes that were then aired on the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC. NOM sent a takedown notice.

One other item of interest: Big Content is represented less than one might think. The complete list does mention NBC, NPR, Warner Music, CBS News, and Universal Music, but it’s dominated by smaller, non-media players like Union Square Partnership, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, Uri Geller, Diebold, and DeBeers.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/10/eff-opens-the-takedown-hall-of-shame.ars