This isn’t an unusual request as sealed filings are quite common. MarkMonitor believes that the requested information is confidential and asks the court to keep it out of the public’s view. This accusation is based on evidence from MarkMonitor. The filing is part of the legal battle between several record labels and ISP Bright House, which is accused of failing to terminate repeat copyright infringement. This information includes documents, source code, and witness testimony regarding the company’s efforts to track online pirates. This week, anti-piracy MarkMonitor sent a request to a federal court in Florida, asking for the option to file some evidence under seal. It is seeking to prevent TorrentFreak - a longtime reporter on all things piracy-related - from covering anything it turns over to the court during discovery. It has approached a court and asked for a little of the ol’ unconstitutional prior restraint to ensure it remains uncriticized - at least until a lawsuit against ISP Bright House (one MarkMonitor is not a direct party to) is concluded. MarkMonitor, however, wants to deter legitimate criticism of its business activities. Unfortunately, it’s often quantity over quality, and that’s what’s going to lead to further criticism of MarkMonitor and its anti-piracy efforts.
The question is how much of this work is backstopped by humans - something that could prevent embarrassing mistakes like those listed above. In these cases, algorithms do most of the work. MarkMonitor may be no worse than competitors with similarly large customer lists. It did the same thing for another customer - one that likely didn’t appreciate the attempt to silence a review of its product, nor the backlash the camera maker received once MarkMonitor got done screwing things up. How else has MarkMonitor fucked up? Well, it sent a cease-and-desist to a blogger who wrote a positive review of one of its client’s products, claiming the review was somehow “unauthorized use” of its client’s trademarks. Adobe made the most of MarkMonitor’s incompetence to attempt to take down a Techdirt story discussing its inability to keep its DRM from being cracked, something that appeared to be more stupid than malicious, but concerning nonetheless. HBO cast its lot with MarkMonitor just to watch it try to take down official HBO URLs in an attempt to thwart pirates. Monitor.”) MarkMonitor has plenty of clients, few of which have been served competently during its tenure at the forefront of the “War Against Piracy.”
0 kommentar(er)
