Search Salon

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Recently in Salon Technology

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]

Silicon Follies
Silicon Follies
Chapter 37: Liz and Paul's dating game
By Thomas Scoville
[07/21/99]

Books
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]

Complete archives for Technology

- - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - -

In March, Mullaney was informed by her Internet service provider, Frontier GlobalCenter, that her Web site had been partially blocked, due to a letter from the Church of Scientology that alleged she was illegally using copyrighted materials. Thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which the Church of Scientology invoked in this case, Frontier was required to block the Web site unless Mullaney agreed to contest the charges in court. She did agree and filed the paperwork, but still it took four months for Mullaney to have her Web site reinstated.

Susan's tussle with the Church of Scientology is, in many ways, an old story. In a war against what it calls the "cult of Scientology," the online community of Scientology critics has long copied, distributed and annotated hundreds of "top secret" and copyrighted documents from the Church of Scientology -- usually invoking fair use laws, (which allow publishers to excerpt copyrighted material for the purpose of comment or criticism), to defend their actions. The Church of Scientology has determinedly fought to dismantle the Web sites that have republished its material all across the Net -- using legal threats, filtering software and innumerable pro-Scientology posts in Usenet groups.

It's one of the best-documented battles on the Net, but there is a new weapon in these skirmishes, courtesy of the U.S. government: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, signed into law in November 1998, is the first U.S. legislation to address online copyright protection. Written in compliance with the global copyright protection treaty from the World Intellectual Property Organization, the act prohibits the unlawful use of any kind of copyrighted file online. Until this legislation, online copyright laws were vague at best, but thanks to this law, Internet service providers are now required to remove Web sites that allegedly break copyright laws -- even before the copyright infringement has been proven.

In the last six months, at least a half dozen critics of the Church of Scientology have reported that the church has demanded that Internet service providers disable their Web sites or reveal their identities as anonymous Usenet posters, because of alleged copyright infringements. And, they say that the Internet service providers have carried out such demands without hesitation. The magic wand the Church of Scientology is invoking to get such quick results? The Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

As Frank Fields, an attorney for the Internet service provider Frontier GlobalCenter puts it, "I have concerns that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act provides another field of battle; I've been engaged in these battles in the past. This is just another venue."

Next page | What's good for ISPs may not be so great for Web site publishers