Podmovie – Mass Undergoe Interview

ForeskinRadio.com interviews rising stars Mass Undergoe outside the Buffalo Club in Vancouver, Canada, February 15, 2007. myspace.com/massundergoe

Podmovie – Incura Interview

ForeskinRadio.com interviews rock band “Incura” outside the Buffalo Club in Vancouver, Canada, February 15, 2007. myspace.com/incura

Electronic Frontier Foundation & Viacom

Viacom recently requested that YouTube remove more than 100,000 video clips that they claim infringe on their content.

Unfortunately, when you spread that wide of a net, a lot of dolphins get caught with the tuna. Among the 100,000 videos targeted for takedowns was a home movie shot in a BBQ joint, a film trailer by a documentarian, and a music video (previously here) about karaoke in Singapore. None of these contained anything owned by Viacom. Viacom has admitted to “no more than” 60 mistakes so far.

“If they are making these kinds of mistakes, who can tell how many fair uses of Viacom content they also targeted in their 100,000 takedowns?” asks EFF’s Fred von Lohmann. “Hundreds? Thousands?”

If your video has been removed from YouTube based on a bogus Viacom takedown, EFF wants talk with you – they may be able to help you directly or help find another lawyer who can.

EFF has created a video to explain the situation:

http://www.podcastingnews.com/2007/02/16/caught-by-the-latest-round-of-youtube-censoring-let-eff-know/

Skit: Viacom CEO gets what’s coming to him

Podmovie – 5 Feet Interview

Unedited interview with 5 Feet dance team of KiD Productions (myspace.com/boss_d) backstage at Richards on Richards in Vancouver, Canada, February 9, 2007.

Extra Feeded: Doctor and Professor Reunited

Outtake from Episode 70 foreskinradio.com Doctor Lickalottapus and Professor Bestestes patch up their differences and discuss some behind the scenes shit. As the original dynamic gets re-established, the Foreskin crew shake off the rust and kick it old school.

listen

Email Reply: Viacom’s Marketting Strategy

My Reply:

I watched “YouTube and Viacom Remove Parody Video!” and left a message. I want others to know that this isn’t just isolated incidents. There’s a big problem. I wrote YouTube an email immedaitely after I recieved their “Complaint” notification. A copy of it is on my blog: http://foreskinradio.wordpress.com/2007/02/02/fuck-viacom-and-ifilm/
However, I replied to them before I discovered Viacom’s ownership of iFilm. Viral marketting has become a big stategy for corporations now. Its not surprising they’re practising negative promotional schemes as well. They’re using the internet’s anarchistic spirit to drive new users to their affiliated websites. A brilliant plan actually. YouTube is a powerful brand; its become synonymous with user-generated media. Say “Q-tip” you think cotton swabs, say “Xerox” you think photocopies, “iPod” has already come to mean portable media players in general. Public perception means everything to companies. Viacom isn’t concerned so much about copyright infringements as they are with controlling how their content is perceived and distributed. Now the only place to view Comedy Central clips, like the Daily Show, is at Viacom controlled sites. This way all the advertising revenue goes to them instead of cutting a deal with YouTube. OK, so that seems somewhat reasonable; its their content, their ad money. However, by making such a huge fuse they generate mass media attention, changing public perception about YouTube and copyright protection. Remember the slaughter and demonization of Napster? The internet business models have adapted since those wild days of filesharing and the dotcom boom & bust. Viral videos and viral marketting can generate big buzz and profits. Big Media wants their fat fingers in as much of the pie as they can. They hate competing against all of this free content (blogs, podcasts, user-created videos, etc.). They’re lobbying the gov’t to pass legislation to regulate and restrict the producers and distrubtors of free content using the issue of copyright as their main weapon. Net Neutrality and Copyright laws are some of the most important issues facing internet-users today. The community needs to be aware and let their voices be heard, if they want to protect and strengthen the rights and freedoms of their online citzenship. Citzens of the Internet is what we are, and a Internet Constituation is what we need.

Alright, I’ll stop there before I get anymore dramatic. I hope all that made sense or at least was worth your time to read. Thank you for your support and please spread the message. If you don’t mind, I’d like to post a copy of this correspondence on my blog.

Adam
transpondency.com
foreskinradio.com

PS.
regard MTV videos: Music videos are dead. MTV generates more ad revenue from shows like Laguna Beach than with traditional videos b/c they attract a wider, more captive audience. Furthermore, MTV target demographic is spending more and more of their time on YouTube. Everything is marketting. Marketting is everything.

MMXMMX wrote:

> Brilliant vid!You’re very observant. The idea the that the people at Viacom may be purposely making false accusations so people can get mad at the YouTube staff and leave to go to iFilms is something that never came to mind until you mentioned it. That’s something to think about. It is very possible. Think about it – why are so many MTV videos (for example) still up? Something very fishy is going on.
>
> You’re not the only one having problems. Check these videos out:
> YouTube and Viacom Remove Parody Video!
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdarhFjlLVI
> by: MattHawes
>
> Viacom owns me now?!?
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOzx4I0mwbU
> by: Delaypat
>
> Wow! In “Delaypat’s” video, he explains that his video did not have any music nor did it have any logos nor images related to Viacom in any way. He says that it was just a video of him falling down the stairs.
>
> You can just type in the words “Viacom” and YouTube” in YouTube’s search engine to find the videos. Good luck!

Responce to “Fuck The Chinese” comments

Reaction to all the critical comments (click here to view); Dr. Lickalottapus breaks it down all serious and thoughtful. Insight and background regarding our comedic video.

Fuck Viacom

Viacom falsely accused one of my videos of copyright enfringement. It was a short clips of friends dancing in front of their friends’ band. Unfortunately, I didn’t save a backup so I can’t prove my innocence. This is my angry rant. Also posted on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSHFVfyInCs For more exciting content, raw, spontaneous and outrageous visit: www.foreskinradio.com

Fuck Viacom and iFilm

YouTube removed one of my videos b/c of a copyright infringement complaint made by Viacom. The video doesn’t exist anymore; my personal copy was erased for storage reasons. It was videotaped at an Open Mic at Jabez Coffee Bar last year and included friends performing a song they wrote themselves in front of a small group of teenagers dancing comically. It was a beautiful moment I captured and shared on YouTube. Where is the copyright infringement? Where is Viacom’s evidence to support their claim? Unfortunately, I no longer have the video to dispute my claims. Thus Viacom wins. Now my page is labeled with this: “This video has been removed at the request of copyright owner Viacom International Inc. because its content was used without permission” This is an untrue statement and its attached to my good name.

Why did this happen? Viacom owns iFilm, a rival viral video site to YouTube. Viacom pulled all of their content property from YouTube, including Comedy Central and MTV videos, among others. All of that content can be found on iFilm. I believe Viacom is targeting independent content creators with infringement complaints in order to erode YouTube’s marketshare. My first instinct was to blame YouTube but now I realize Viacom is employing unscrupulous tactics.

The following is today’s correspondence:

Dear Member:

This is to notify you that we have removed or disabled access to the following material as a result of a third-party notification by Viacom International Inc. claiming that this material is infringing:

Leave your Emo at the Door and just Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp-4SaUFeYA

Please Note: Repeat incidents of copyright infringement will result in the deletion of your account and all videos uploaded to that account. In order to avoid future strikes against your account, please delete any videos to which you do not own the rights, and refrain from uploading additional videos that infringe on the copyrights of others. For more information about YouTube’s copyright policy, please read the Copyright Tips guide.

If you elect to send us a counter notice, to be effective it must be a written communication provided to our designated agent that includes substantially the following (please consult your legal counsel or see 17 U.S.C. Section 512(g)(3) to confirm these requirements):

A physical or electronic signature of the subscriber.
Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled.
A statement under penalty of perjury that the subscriber has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled.
The subscriber’s name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that the subscriber consents to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located, or if the subscriberis address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which the service provider may be found, and that the subscriber will accept service of process from the person who provided notification under subsection (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person.
Such written notice should be sent to our designated agent as follows:

DMCA Complaints
YouTube, Inc.
1000 Cherry Ave.
Second Floor
San Bruno, CA 94066
Email: copyright@youtube.com

Please note that under Section 512(f) of the Copyright Act, any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification may be subject to liability.

Sincerely,
YouTube, Inc.

My Reply:

Viacom has no rights to the material of the video in question. All
contents of the video are independent produced, written and performed.
Permission of usage was given by the individuals depicted on the
video. Viacom is making false claims regarding the infringement of the
material in question. If Viacom believes it owns the copyright of the
contents of the video, they are grossly incorrect. This is a very
upsetting matter. Is it the policy of the YouTube administration to
act on fraudulent claims made by any persons or companies without
evidence or proof of the validity of their infringement accusations?
Based on this complicity to accept suspect complaints, YouTube may be
implicating themselves in future legal action taken by individual
owners of independent content who are being unjustly targeted by media
companies like Viacom. I can only assume, without any evidence or
proof of copyrights presented in the complaint, that Viacom is acting
unscrupulously in its attempts to control media distribution and
copyrights.

I hope this statement will be received in goodwill of the community.
User created content is a vulnerable new medium that may be unfairly
preyed upon and sabotaged by big business interests. In the future, I
hope further considerations will be given to unsubstantiated claims
made by any party.