-962
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by lwadmin@lemmy.world to c/lemmyworld@lemmy.world

Earlier, after review, we blocked and removed several communities that were providing assistance to access copyrighted/pirated material, which is currently not allowed per Rule #1 of our Code of Conduct. The communities that were removed due to this decision were:

We took this action to protect lemmy.world, lemmy.world's users, and lemmy.world staff as the material posted in those communities could be problematic for us, because of potential legal issues around copyrighted material and services that provide access to or assistance in obtaining it.

This decision is about liability and does not mean we are otherwise hostile to any of these communities or their users. As the Lemmyverse grows and instances get big, precautions may happen. We will keep monitoring the situation closely, and if in the future we deem it safe, we would gladly reallow these communities.

The discussions that have happened in various threads on Lemmy make it very clear that removing the communites before we announced our intent to remove them is not the level of transparency the community expects, and that as stewards of this community we need to be extremely transparent before we do this again in the future as well as make sure that we get feedback around what the planned changes are, because lemmy.world is yours as much as it is ours.

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[-] talos@lemmy.world 43 points 1 year ago

I can understand this. This is a server hosted by an individual who doesn't want the potential legal headaches that may arise. Everyone is free to make another account on another instance, or create their own instance.

[-] WolfyGamer29@lemmy.world 43 points 1 year ago

Y'all realize that saying things like "You've just lost a user!" or "Deleting my account!" or "This is now the worst instance on Lemmy!"... you sound like a Karen telling the kid at the register in CVS that she's leaving a bad Yelp review... right? Y'all seeing this? Am I going crazy here?

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[-] WereCat@lemmy.world 41 points 1 year ago

I do understand that you would remove them if they were also hosted here... But they are hosted on other instances so I don't understand the issue? Is linking to that specific instance via comment the same issue as if they were visible for everyone on this instance? Or even mentioning it now in the OP like it is?

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[-] 80085@lemmy.world 41 points 1 year ago

Seems overly cautious, or lemmy.world is trying to find excuses to cut off content they don't like. Legal trouble for allowing access to those communities, which aren't even based on lemmy.world, would be so much of an overstep, they'd probably be able to get free legal counsel from the EFF or a similar organization.

Anyways, this will be my last post on this server. Even though I don't use any of those communities, I don't want to have to constantly monitor what has been banned to see what I may miss out on.

Apparently, lemmy.world also removed c/shrooms, which I didn't even know about. And again, risk of legal trouble for that would be extremely low.

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[-] hal_5700X@lemmy.world 40 points 1 year ago

Oh no! Users are complaining and downvoting. They just need to get inline and do what they're told. Okay for real, you people are worst type of people. Lemmy users are just showing their disapproval of the action. They have the right to do.

Do those communities house copyright content? The answer is no. Having discussions, giving guides & tips are are legal. So I don't see the problem. If someone going to get sued for it. It will be dbzer0.com and lemmy.ml due to said communities being part of the instances not LW.

[-] OtakuAltair@lemm.ee 28 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

If someone going to get sued for it. It will be dbzer0.com and lemmy.ml due to said communities being part of the instances not LW.

Don't instances cache the content from federated instances? I can still view content from vlemmy.net from other instances, even though it's been permanently shut down.

From the OP:

Doesn't matter if they are hosted here or not. The way federation works is that threads on different instances are cached locally.

We have NO issues with the people at db0 - we are just looking out for ourselves in a 'better safe than sorry' fashion while we find out more. As mentioned in the OP we would like to unblock as soon as we know we can not get in any legal trouble.

Reddit has gotten into legal trouble numerous times regarding r/piracy, despite it not hosting any copyrighted material either.

Why is anyone complaining about instances not taking the same legal risks as a massive corporation? Just use another instance that fits your needs.

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[-] TheObserver@lemmy.world 39 points 1 year ago

Aight peace ✌️ you do you. Gonna go sail my ship over to another instance.

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[-] arin@lemmy.world 38 points 1 year ago

I can still access r piracy on Reddit, i thought lemmy.world had more freedom of speech than corporate sellouts. 💀

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[-] sadreality@kbin.social 38 points 1 year ago

What is the legal theory being used here?

People chatting about piracy is now a crime in US? I thought the crime was uploading or downloading copyrighted content...

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[-] theDIESEL999@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago

This is a bit concerning… why is Lemmy censoring things that not even Reddit is censoring? This seems like a bleak warning for the future of the platform. I understand censoring illegal content, but if nothing is hosted on Lemmy, then what’s the problem?

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[-] Aurix@lemmy.world 35 points 1 year ago

I am strongly opposed to the way this is handled. Discussing piracy may not be censored in any way and being afraid of shady lawsuits is not good, this is one of the main responsibilities of a server admin of such a grand operation. Especially so for what is effectively an image board which is grey zoning on copyright all the time. It is fine to ban communities who direct link to well known piracy sites, both because of the legal and perhaps ethical complications this brings.

We need now more than ever platforms where we defend basic freedoms as discussion of hot topics. I view the negative impact of this as banning discussion on drugs. Disclaimers about dangers and help lines for addiction should be forced, as the banning of purchase options, however please stay out of experiences, discussions and warnings on them.

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[-] Zatore@lemmy.world 35 points 1 year ago

Honestly fuck off. I came to Lemmy because I'm sick of people telling me what I can view and how I can view it. Guess I'll go find another instance again.

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[-] PugJesus@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago

Unfortunate, but I understand the necessity of avoiding legal troubles as a volunteer group.

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[-] HexesofVexes@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago

The copyblight strikes again.

This decision was the logical one, however, it was only rendered logical because of the awful state of copyright law.

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[-] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 31 points 1 year ago

I'm no fan of piracy - just seems like a pretty name for petty theft to me - but this decision seems problematic. I went and read some of the threads about this decision on some of the other communities, including dbzer0, and I looked around the blocked communities on an alt account.

I'm not seeing evidence of actual copyrighted material posted, just discussions about how to steal content, which itself isn't illegal. And there's a pretty fair amount of content - the communities are active - so if there was a violation I feel like it should be handled as the exception it appears to be. Those communities themselves don't allow posting of copyrighted content, so it shouldn't be a problem to get a violation removed. If someone posted an image that contained child pornography to one of the NSFW communities, would we block the whole community, or just get that post removed (and alert the authorities)? The latter, I hope.

They also make a good case that the action was taken in response to a troll on a newly-created account who didn't provide any evidence of there being copyrighted material. That in itself seems like a problem, though maybe someone looked into it? I'm pretty supportive of the .World admins, I think you're doing a good job in a difficult situation, but I believe these communities should be unblocked unless there is an actual problem.

[-] atlasraven31@lemm.ee 34 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yarr harr, tis incorrect sez me

Theft be taking somefing, I has it and you don't

You savu?

Copying be making another thing from a thing

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[-] IZanderI@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago

Any suggestions on instances to move over to?

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[-] Belkor@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

How does Reddit get away with hosting these communities without the mentioned issues?

[-] flop_leash_973@lemmy.world 36 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Because Reddit has a legal team on retainer, and a budget for litigation.

And they recently had to use them: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/08/reddit-beats-film-industry-wont-have-to-identify-users-who-admitted-torrenting/

Imagine how that same thing would have gone but with lemmy.world instead of Reddit. Being permissive about discussions on how to commit blatantly illegal activity can be expensive.

[-] AlmightySnoo@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago

They aren't, just a recent example: https://torrentfreak.com/filmmakers-take-reddit-to-court-again-to-unmask-piracy-commenters-230621/

But they have good lawyers. LW admins don't have the same means. It doesn't even matter whether you're "right" or "wrong" here and that's what the pro-piracy advocates here miss.

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[-] Tired8281@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago

What are your thoughts on communities about drugs? Pretty big topic for me, although the drug subs mostly haven't moved here yet, is that because you ban them? If so, I'm wasting my time waiting for them here.

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[-] esty@lemmy.ca 27 points 1 year ago

is this the new most downvoted post on lemmy?

[-] PropaGandalf@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Not with me. Pirating for personal use is perfectly legal in my country.

Do we have an account migration tool yet and can somebody recommend a nice instance?

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[-] tcj@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago

I don't understand how lemmy world has removed them, aren't those all communities on different servers? How is this our problem?

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this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2023
-962 points (33.0% liked)

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