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Fox Subpoenas YouTube Over Content
Posted by
Zonk
on Thu Jan 25, 2007 03:22 PM
from the keeping-the-goodies-to-themselves dept.
from the keeping-the-goodies-to-themselves dept.
popo writes "FOX has subpoenaed YouTube for the identity of a user who posted entire episodes of '24' and 'The Simpson's'. It is not yet known whether YouTube has complied with the request. The '24' episodes in question actually appeared on YouTube prior to their primetime January 14 premiere on the Fox broadcast network, which spread four hourlong episodes of the hit drama over two consecutive nights. Fox became aware the episodes were on YouTube on January 8, according to the subpoena."
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Why result to laywers..... (Score:5, Funny)
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--
Most linux users don't know this, but the man pages are named after Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris fsck ing hates noobs!
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he's a star (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, they're looking for him so he can star in an upcoming show on CourtTV.
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Yeah, and even if they track it back to an IP address, the guy probably did it from an open wireless access point. At least, if he was smart he did.
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Finkployd
Why Worry? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Why Worry? (Score:5, Funny)
I can understand firing him and suing him, but don't you think sending him to live in Detroit is a bit harsh?
Parent
Re:Why Worry? (Score:5, Informative)
Often times, an episode or pilot will be sent out on dvd to be distributed to potential clients. These are presented as general sales tools and sometimes carry little restriction. ie, copy and burn to distribute to those you deem necessary. While the episode may not contain all of computer graphics of the final show... it can very much be the whole thing.
I'm surprised it actually took this long for someone to do this. However, it wouldn't have to be an employee of a Fox affiliate and could just be some random soul who was given a copy for preview.
These things have always been a bit sloppy in my opinion and it will be interesting to see if they tighten up on these internal releases.
Parent
Re:Why Worry? (Score:4, Interesting)
How? Well, one in particular that I know of used to pull them out of the air. It seems that Fox would send out the completed episodes about a week before they were supposed to air, via satellite, to assorted groups (I dont know who, but I assume their affiliates). These "pirates" would pull the complete shows right out of the air (yes, I know, its much more complicated and involved than I'm making it sound, but I'm simplifying here people), encode them, and release them, well before the actual airing.
No inside job needed, and noone handing out things they werent supposed to.
Parent
Re:Why Worry? (Score:5, Informative)
The big networks don't always use an encrypted feed when they're sending the shows (over satellite) to the affiliate stations.
Anyone with a big dish can point it at the satellite and grab the episodes.
There's a lot of free/random stuff floating around on satellite TV if you point your dish around.
Parent
Re:Why Worry? (Score:4, Funny)
Single Female Lawyer
Fighting for her client!
Wearing sexy miniskirts
And being self-reliant...
Single Female Lawyer
Having lots of sex.
Parent
Re:Why Worry? (Score:4, Informative)
C-Band TVRO requires one of those Big Ugly Dishes, so you may have a problem there.
Lyngsat.com gives you a list of transponders per satellite and what's on them. The ones marked "feeds" are the ones used to transmit programs to affiliates or backhaul remote news/sports trucks back to the studios. The feeds are raw, so you'll probably catch some reporter scratching his ass or picking his nose.
Parent
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I think copyright law might disagree with you there. Ok, so distribution isn't literally "handing out", but they're still not supposed to be doing it...
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Often times, yes. But, I don't get the impression this is one of them.
The show '24' is hardly being shopped around at this point for potential clients -- every single Fox affiliate is playing it now. It's exceedingly well known at this point.
And, TFA indicates these were
Re:Why Worry? (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
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I can't imagine that the episode which premiered on TV in primetime on January 14th was released on DVD the following Tuesday. Everything about this article is saying that is was a fully-prepped episode, not yet aired on TV, and not a tester or in post production.
What the hell's wrong with you? The GP makes an insightful post that probably hits the nail on the head and you say it's wrong because you can't imagine something that happened happened?
From Wikipedia: [wikipedia.org] "FOX released a Season 6 Premiere DVD on January 16. This DVD contains the first 4 episodes of 24 season 6, and a preview of episode 5. The DVD leaked on Saturday, January 6, eight days before the season premiere, to BitTorrent and other P2P networks.
Come on, don't refute someone's argument with a "hunch".
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Re:Why Worry? (Score:5, Interesting)
Anyway, the Academy used to send them on regular DVD but one of the restrictions was that members are forbidden from sharing the movies, i.e., letting others borrow them, else they lose their membership and probably get tossed in a cell with a drunk Mel Gibson and Gary Busey... now, they have the movies on a special DVD that only works on special players that are distributed to most members (I think some members still get regular DVDs, although I cannot vouch for this)...
I wonder if Fox just gives out regular DVDs to special people to view? I know a guy I worked for one time used to the president years ago of whatever group gives out the Emmys, but as a member of the..."Emmy group"?...he still gets tons of DVDs of various episodes of all the TV shows on broadcast and cable. As far as I know, they were regular DVDs. (I used to sneak a few out at work and watch them on my computer...during lunch and breaks of course).
It seems if Fox or other networks thought that such episodes were so important,they would not allow unresticted DVDs out into the wild. Hell, it could have been one of Fox's VP's kids that got a hold of 24's premiere and unleashed that baby into the tubes of the interwebs...
Parent
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And it is something that has cost them dearly [waxy.org]:
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Before airing where? I don't know about Lost of Prison Break, and it's certainly not the case for the latest series, but I seem to remember that the UK got the first series of the new Battlestar Galactica before the US did.
Not a simple "inside job" case (Score:5, Informative)
You don't have to be an insider to pull this stunt--you only need equipment that is no longer commonly available. TV programming is sent from network HQ to affiliate stations electronically via satellite, sometimes hours to several days before scheduled broadcast. You do not need to be an employee of either the station or the network to receive a satellite signal. I used to regularly watch episodes of Star Trek DS9 up to three days before they aired on "real" TV.
Wild feeds, or "occasional video transponders" are still commonly sent in unencrypted form so anyone can get them. However nobody knows when they are broadcasting or what the content is unless you are an employee. Sometimes if you watch the feeds you can pick out a pattern that seems like a regular schedule, but sometimes it shifts around. Also, episodes may be broadcast in wild feeds out of sequence. Furthermore, they are not broadcast in the same way as the most commonplace digital satellite systems--they are typically analogue and in a different frequency band--in the US they are on C band satellites. Most people who want satellite TV want the little dish hanging off the eaves, not a ten-foot C-band dish that obscures half of your yard (and you'd have to be in a rural setting for it to even be permitted). Wild feeds in Canada are commonly in Ku band as well, which permits a slightly smaller dish but still not appealing to anyone but enthusiasts.
Fox has a larger hunt on their hands and it IS a typical copyright violation case. Hence, the subpoena of Google/YouTube.
Stupid of broadcasters to still broadcast in the clear like that, but there is some technological inertia in every industry...
Parent
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There is plenty of C band equipment to be had. I was practically given my 10ft dish. Some folks let you take theirs if you'll take it out of their yard. The setup's a little hard but it's paid for now.
They are very popular in rural areas and the service plans are still cheap. I like the fact that I can just buy the channels that I want for a very low annual fee - I get all the channels I want for less than a single
Re:Why Worry? (Score:5, Informative)
Thousands of people DLed that, and one guy encoded it for submission to YouTube.
No insider job here.
Parent
Re:Why Worry? (Score:5, Funny)
Yep, it's turtles all the way down...
Parent
I guess this means (Score:5, Funny)
24 Season 6 Preview was on YouTube (Score:2)
Bauer Will Find Them (Score:2, Funny)
Well, his/her account has been suspended [youtube.com] but you can still view some of their videos for some reason.
That's beside the point, though. Once Jack finds out that there is some person somewhere acting unlawfully against him, all civil laws and the Geneva Conventions will be ignored in his quest to find them. Wit
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The show, in too many different ways, albeit technological, chronological, sociological, etc. has parted ways with the bounds of reality so much that the show has become uninteresting to watch because it lacks any plausibility any more.
The artistic license given to Hollywood (and now, New York) is so vast that I've stopped watching CSI regularly for similar reasons. I mean, these guys can pull a good DNA sample off of dog poop and trace it back through the Miami-Dade Humane Society's database on any cani
Have Fox got.... (Score:2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Hutz [wikipedia.org]
Sadly, no (Score:2)
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Alternate Site? (Score:2, Funny)
If he posted the commercials ... (Score:3, Insightful)
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Of course, by releasing before airtime, that would mean there'd be no local commercials (from broadcaster or cable company) inserted. If intact, the national commercials the locals replace would be intact or something else to mark the local ad break.
Interesting though that YouTube has a cap of 10 minutes
Re:If he posted the commercials ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Likely, yes they would. Commercial time is valued based on the audience size (and demographic). The commercials were already sold based on the (projected) television viewership. Just because more people will now watch online doesn't mean they can go back to the advertisers and ask them for more money.
Parent
They also appeared (Score:2)
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Now you've piqued my curiosity.
Re:They also appeared (Score:4, Funny)
Oh, shit.
Parent
Bit Torrent (Score:5, Informative)
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How is this really ''your rights online''? (Score:4, Insightful)
Dollars to Doughnuts says that Google's laywers took one look at the subpoena and went "Here you go"
You've been served. (Score:2)
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Further, IANAL, but doesn't the search seem specific (we want the information for this _one_ fellow here) and contain probable cause (his name uploaded copyrighted material)?
Sorry, I'm interested in t
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Infringing.
Actually, "stealing" is correct term.
You infringe the copyright of a published work.
You steal an unpublished work.
If you haven't published something, you still own it entirely, with all rights of ownership...not just the rights of copy and distribution. If someone makes a copy of your unpublished manuscript, you have lost something real and valuable: the right of introduction. You can no longer monetize the debut of your work, fo