In his misguided desire to become notorious, Michael Crook has become the preeminent villain of the blogosphere, the target of a lawsuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a laughing stock, and a fascinating case study into blog-ethics, copyright law on the Internet, the tenets of Fair Use, the reach of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and how its abuse can affect free speech.
It also becomes the diary of a madman.
Crook's most recent tangle involved Rojo founder Kevin Burton, who claimed on Diis.net to BoingBoing to To the best of my knowledge, information, and belief, Fox News Channel did not expressly consent to publication of this photograph. Regardless, however, I did not authorize Fox News to enable outside sources to publish the image, which is of myself, thereby giving me jurisdiction over this matter.
"Hence, it is my contention that my rights under the DMCA are being violated by the continued presence of this photograph, and although the photograph itself is not hosted on your server, it is linked to in such a fashion that it is represented to be part of your client's website. "
Yes, even linking to the image violated his rights, he said.
the law."
But the EFF says no law was violated, and that if allowed to flourish by providers and hosts flinching at every DMCA takedown notice that come their way, then it could have a chilling effect on free speech.
"The Internet is home to passionate debate on countless important issues. It is too bad that some people find the robust exercise of free speech so frightening that they use intimidation to try to silence it," said EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry in a statement.
"This is yet another case of someone intentionally misusing copyright law to try to shut down legitimate debate on an issue of public interest," said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. "...It's hypocritical for such an outspoken figure like Crook to attack other speakers just because they disagree with him."
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EFF, Bloggers, Everyone, Take On Web Bully
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