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Short attention span theater
Is the Web the perfect place for short films? Cheaper and easier than a trip to the cinema, it may spawn a rebirth of the 10-minute talkie.
By John Geirland
[07/21/99]

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What will it take to survive the Web's evolution?
In "Digital Darwinism," Evan Schwarz predicts which online business models will prove the fittest.
By Janelle Brown
[07/20/99]

One step ahead of the law
As the gory killsport game Kingpin hits the street, the gaming industry toys with self-regulation to avoid government action.
By Mark Boal
[07/19/99]

Silicon Follies
Silicon Follies
Chapter 36: Last chance -- squatters off Highway 17
By Thomas Scoville
[07/17/99]

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"Because I am not a resident of the U.S.A. and because I have no inclination to fight the case in court, I agreed to remove the page," Chong explained in February. "This legislation is a new weapon in the Church of Scientology arsenal, and I am sure the Church of Scientology will use it to close down as many sites as possible."

Mullaney and Chong are angry that they were presumed guilty until proven innocent: Their Internet service providers removed their Web sites before the Church of Scientology proved a copyright violation. This, they complain, is thanks to the stringent guidelines of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

"The law requires us to take down the alleged offending material -- this was the compromise Congress struck when they made this deal," explains Frank Fields, an attorney for Frontier GlobalCenter. This was the "safe harbor" compromise that proponents of the act struck with Internet service providers: The ISP can't be held liable for copyright infringement as long as it takes down allegedly offending material as soon as a complaint is filed. Says Fields, "Internet service providers, in order to take advantage of safe harbor, have no other choice to take down the site," until the customer has filed legal papers agreeing to go to court to defend himself or herself.

But the act is, in many ways, a godsend for the ISPs -- especially when it comes to the Church of Scientology. In the past, thanks to murky copyright laws, an ISP could be held liable for its customers' copyright infringements. At least twice, Internet service providers were sued by (and eventually settled with) the Church of Scientology, thanks to customers who posted chunks of Scientology texts on their Web sites. So even while some Internet service providers may have historically ignored complaints from the Church of Scientology, others would quickly censor the sites in question in order to protect themselves. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act now eliminates the possibility of ignoring a letter of complaint, but it also gives the Internet service provider exemption from liability.

Still, despite complaints about the way the Church of Scientology is using the act, critics of Scientology also have an opportunity to use the law to their own advantages. If a site owner files a counter-notification agreeing to defend the usage of the "copyrighted" materials in a court of law, then the Church of Scientology must begin litigation within 10 days or the ISP must reinstate the site.

"The advantage for the customer with the material that gets taken down is that the initial complaint is filed under penalty of perjury. So if it's a bogus complaint, that person can also turn around and file a complaint back," says James Lippard, a network security administrator and owner of the site discord.org. Lippard was forced to remove a picture of top Church of Scientology executive David Miscavige from his Web site in June, when his ISP received a Church of Scientology complaint. Although Lippard felt that he was in the clear legally (technically, he says, the picture wasn't even on his server; he merely linked to the image on the Church of Scientology's Web site via a proxy), he chose not to enter into a legal fight with the church -- an endeavor he felt might be prohibitively expensive.

But other critics of Scientology have already chosen to defend themselves. After her site was removed, for example, Mullaney filed a counter-notification agreeing to defend her use of the sound files and questionnaire. But the Church of Scientology failed to meet the 10-day deadline to begin a legal battle; as a result, Mullaney's Web site was reinstated on July 8.

Still, that doesn't mean that her Web site is safe -- although the Church of Scientology apparently decided against litigation in this round, both she and Frank Fields are concerned that there is nothing to keep the Church of Scientology from filing repeated complaints. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, unfortunately, doesn't prevent multiple complaints for the same alleged violation -- a loophole which could, conceivably, spur an endless cycle of Web sites being blocked and reinstated. As Fields puts it, "Without restraint, it could become very problematic for all of us."

Next page | Does the copyright law simply open the door to intimidation?