This is an interesting read from "The Raw Story":
New York man faces five years in jail for ‘linking’ to online videos
I can't wait to hear the court's ruling on this!

"In a case against a New York website owner, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is claiming that merely linking to copyrighted material is a crime."

"It is unlawful to reproduce copyrighted material, such as movies, music, software or games, without authorization... First-time offenders convicted of a criminal felony copyright law will face up to five years in federal prison, restitution, forfeiture and fine."

Here's what his website looks like now.

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Bill Wood - Retired Webmaster
My Personal Website
1998 Mercedes E430
2010 Toyota Sequoia
My Photo Albums

That doesn't happen on this forum. Here, we repost the actual material!

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

sounds like he was helping people steal services, a bit different than posting a link to a free site with copyrighted content.

Based on my training and experience, I know that 'linking' websites generally collect and catalog links to files on third party websites that contain illegal copies of copyrighted content, including sporting events and Pay-Per-View events," he added.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/10/new-york-man-faces-five-years-in-jail-for-linking-to-online-videos/

Oops, I wonder if I'm on some "list" now for clicking that link!

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Under an extreme interpretation . . . if linking a URL is a crime, Google and Bing should be on death row.

It sounds like the focus is more on video and audio streaming.

The White House decided to get involved in this whole subject this week. Now I feel a LOT better
READ THIS

__________________
Bill Wood - Retired Webmaster
My Personal Website
1998 Mercedes E430
2010 Toyota Sequoia
My Photo Albums

Its BS.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

This website has recently lost an incredibly valuable member.

It is because of fear.
It is because of manipulation of those fears.
It is because of money.
It is because of power.
It is because of the people's inability to unite and defend themselves.


I am disgusted.

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most news stories and such have "share" or "like" buttons linking the page to your page on a social networking site. Also, most have a method of emailing the story or printing it. So, I cannot imagine any media site or blog site having an issue with anyone linking to their page. It's free publicity. Referencing & quoting valid copyrighted sources (ie footnotes) has been done for over a hundred years in writing.

What might an issue is someone using said website material as their own words, which seems highly unlikely on most website forums I have ever seen. Or, like this case, providing a portal for others to take w/o paying what is normally a pay for use service, like a video or movie or broadcasted event. That is totally different than referencing an essay or news article for the purpose of discussion.

based on what some have indicated on here (NOT the webmaster) Facebook will be shut down just about any minute here and every high school senior will be facing charges for quoting copyrighted material in their term paper. that's not reality.

Our Motto "Only the Real Deal Will Do." If not our highly trained legal experts at the law firm of Dooey, Cheatum and Howe will represent you for a nominal fee.

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Time to move websites off shore.
There are plenty of countries that dont practice this sort of BS.

Will be interesting to find out what is really going on here. I bet there is some other issue that the authorities couldnt get him for.

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

Wow, was like, nailed to a cross or something? Who was it?

X 2

X 2

This is interesting. In the medical field we are always using information from websites. Print a copy of exercises for a client who is recouping from surgery. Directing people to pirate copies of videos or to sites selling second rate medication is different. Let Home Land security go after them.