1. Comment #70313 by thelivingbrian on September 14, 2007 at 10:45 pm

Music by Greydon Square

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2. Comment #70320 by Theocrapcy on September 14, 2007 at 11:41 pm

I don't know why they bother, the movies are already going back up, see here as an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfYENNup27k

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3. Comment #70340 by JamesDB on September 15, 2007 at 1:49 am

This is totally crazy, how can someone in jail manipulate this kind of system so much. Does youtube have some kind of anti-atheist agenda or are they just attempting to cover their butts from any real legal action against them. Either way I say anyone with a youtube account should send a little email so we can flood their servers with this. Maybe they will come to a more appropriate conclusion rather then banning innocent users.

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4. Comment #70343 by epeeist on September 15, 2007 at 2:02 am

Comment #70340 by JamesDB

This is totally crazy, how can someone in jail manipulate this kind of system so much.

A wonderful piece of legislation called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). It is used by all sorts of people for nefarious ends.

I am a software engineer with a predisposition towards Free Software (not Open Source). Have a google for Free Software and DMCA to see the implications.

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5. Comment #70351 by Hugo on September 15, 2007 at 3:05 am

Uploading the video to my YouTube account now, the only video I have for the moment.
I couldn't believe they banned RichardDawkins.net, and now this, YouTube is popular and big but they can't go on like this, they're part of Google didn't Google have "not being evil" in their mission statement?

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6. Comment #70354 by mdowe on September 15, 2007 at 3:32 am

Comment #70343 by epeeist

I'm also a big proponent of free (in the sense of liberty) software , so of course I'm not surprised. The DMCA pretty much seems to have been drafted with heavy-handed arbitrary application in mind. The law serves little legitimate purpose. Hell, the whole United States patent & copyright system has long stopped serving the populous ... even some corporations are starting to have second thoughts these days (so of course the US government tries to force the system on the world at every opportunity). The whole issue sits not too far under religion on my list of annoyances.

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7. Comment #70361 by BicycleRepairMan on September 15, 2007 at 4:12 am

In the not to distant future, the DMCA, as well as all forms of copyright, will be come sleeper laws and one day be fully discarded. Due to the nature of the internet, and the importance of free information, this seems not only inevitable, but absolutely necessary as well.

The "piratebay" folks are about to launch their own streaming video site,(ie: a Youtube alternative) and I think if GoogleTube continues its banning policies and the user-wars (flagging, DMCA claims etc) continue, people will move to better, and more open sites.

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8. Comment #70369 by tieInterceptor on September 15, 2007 at 5:30 am

couldn't believe they banned RichardDawkins.net, and now this,

they banned richardawkins.net ? what???

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9. Comment #70384 by JemyM on September 15, 2007 at 7:54 am

Atheist rap!

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10. Comment #70385 by canatheist on September 15, 2007 at 8:09 am

The freedom of religion... to kill our freedom of speach....

The Rational Response Squad (and any one else reading this) should be going after Google rather than YouTube. Google now owns them, and the bad publicity against Google will be a lot more effective. People expect controversy from YouTube by it's very nature, but Google presents itself as this benign "don't do Evil" company.

Stand up!

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11. Comment #70389 by Theocrapcy on September 15, 2007 at 8:38 am

Youtube is now completely awash with those banned videos and vicious attacks on Hovind and the CSE.

The internet at its best.

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12. Comment #70392 by skyhook0 on September 15, 2007 at 9:34 am

I worked for the summer at a copyright policy group, this stuff happens all the time. Bad faith misuse of the DMCA like this ought to be severely punished.

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13. Comment #70400 by CruciFiction on September 15, 2007 at 10:40 am

"Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech." - Ben Franklin

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14. Comment #70408 by Northern Bright on September 15, 2007 at 11:16 am

Sorry, I think I must be having a slow brain day. What have YouTube done? To whom? And why? I did click on the "open letter" but I am allergic to rap, and not familiar with DMCA, CSEM etc so it didn't make much sense to me. Can someone translate for me please? :-(

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15. Comment #70413 by aoratos philos on September 15, 2007 at 11:42 am

Northern Bright: CSEM (Christian Science Evangelism Ministries) have filed copyright infringement notices to youtube claiming that users are reproducing their work without their prior copyright authorisation.
In reality the youtube videos that CSEM have identified are either original material, produced by the youtube account holders in question, or use excerpts of CSEM material for parody, or for critical scrutiny.
The latter is covered by US law, which although ambiguous, has precedent within US courts under the "fair use" policy.

CSEM released their material into the public domain by waving copyright, as stated in their videos and, up until recently, on their website.

Since the youtube atheist backlash started, CSEM have attempted to retrospectively add a copyright notice to their website to try and force their position. This retrospective copyright notice is off course unenforceable at best and may possibly be unlawful, given that it is a false claim of ownership. It's not possible to copyright material once it exists in the public domain.

Additionally it is youtube policy to automatically take down a video once a claim of ownership has been made. CSEM are abusing the system and peoples rights to use non-copyrighted material. They are attempting to silence any criticisms of creationism and their cristian worldview.

Hope that helps..

Ohh and speaking as someone knocking on 40 who remembers the early days of Rap as a form of social commentary, I welcome talented artists like Greydon square, on the music scene!

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16. Comment #70416 by Northern Bright on September 15, 2007 at 11:48 am

Hope that helps..

It does - thank you!

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17. Comment #70422 by robotaholic on September 15, 2007 at 12:05 pm

LOL I'm allergic to rap too but that song was cool - it had a message other than rape, drugs, and violence!

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18. Comment #70425 by robotaholic on September 15, 2007 at 12:10 pm

OH and the absolutely most hilarious creationist video is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z-OLG0KyR4

this is supposedly the atheists nightmare - the banana and if you havn't seen it, you should -

Other Comments by robotaholic

19. Comment #70428 by Quine on September 15, 2007 at 12:17 pm

I am not too happy about rap, but that is a channel that needs to be used to get the message to those who really need to hear it. This one is very good. Listen to the words carefully, it is the media and the message.

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20. Comment #70442 by magetoo on September 15, 2007 at 1:43 pm

There are 19 links up there, but nobody bothered to include one to the actual video. Shame on you.

But here it is:

http://one.revver.com/watch/396716

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21. Comment #70455 by chrisslattery42 on September 15, 2007 at 2:42 pm

This article has been featured on the Slashdot main page: http://slashdot.org
Link to article page with comments: http://science.slashdot.org/science/07/09/15/1838232.shtml

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22. Comment #70466 by atheist_peace on September 15, 2007 at 3:46 pm

Greydon Square is an atheist rapper. So even if you hate rap, like me, you can appreciate the message.

You can download his album here: http://rapidshare.com/files/54090592/CPT_eff-burly.rar

And his website is:
www.thecomptoneffect.com

Other Comments by atheist_peace

23. Comment #70481 by HappyPrimate on September 15, 2007 at 5:22 pm

I am very disappointed in YouTube. What or who caused RichardDawkins.net to be banned?
Normally I do not listen to rap, but if the volume is low and the words are intelligent, it is not too bad.

Other Comments by HappyPrimate

24. Comment #70513 by sapient on September 15, 2007 at 8:52 pm

Oh the rabbit hole goes deep. Wait til you hear the reason Richard Dawkins doesn't currently have his youtube account. A video will be coming hopefully within a week. Please folks repost these videos and look for more videos to repost coming soon.

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25. Comment #70515 by dawgdoc2000 on September 15, 2007 at 8:53 pm

Robotaholic wrote:

this is supposedly the atheists nightmare - the banana and if you havn't seen it, you should -


Hence my avatar!!

dd2k

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26. Comment #70517 by william.timberline on September 15, 2007 at 9:09 pm

Mr. Sapient,

You are justify in being frustrated with this group, assuming they are doing as you state. What I find regrettable is that you would promote spam as a means to fight such behavior. I find such tactics as detestable as those of CSEM.

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27. Comment #70539 by VulcanTourist on September 16, 2007 at 12:31 am

william.timberline:

So so you find any sort of "spam" - civil disobedience - detestable? How else would you suggest citizens fight a system that has NO presumption of innocence and NO due process? That is exactly the system we face with the DMCA and YouTube's policies.

Detest it all you want, but unless you have a better suggestion, I'm inclined to flag you as a troll.

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28. Comment #70590 by BathTub on September 16, 2007 at 7:32 am

The Richard Dawkins YouTube account was closed months ago, been wondering why as I never saw a reason.

Youtube is really weird regarding this type of stuff, it's basically a case of who is the most organized and makes the most noise.

Other Comments by BathTub

29. Comment #70629 by windfall on September 16, 2007 at 11:24 am

Geez, what's with all the hostility towards rap? Lighten up...

Bad YouTube, bad! What an ignorant abuse of power! Hopefully, they will come to their senses soon.

Other Comments by windfall

30. Comment #70717 by dissident on September 16, 2007 at 6:18 pm

I'm not a big Rap Fan, but I can dig that song! As the philosopher Cartman once said, "Kick Ass!"

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31. Comment #70718 by patrick.markiewicz on September 16, 2007 at 6:26 pm

I am not a lawyer, but I believe that filing a counterclaim is what you may want to do:
http://www.ucmo.edu/dmca/counter.html
At that point, CSEM would have to get a Court order to remove the material. If it truly is under fair use, then they won't have a leg to stand on. But it may depend on how good the CSEM's lawyers are.

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32. Comment #71079 by william.timberline on September 17, 2007 at 7:18 pm

VulcanTourist,

Theft is not an acceptable form of civil disobedience. Spam is a form of theft. It is wasting another individual's or company's electronic resources (i.e., disk space, bandwidth, time, etc.).

And, yes, I do have a better recommendation. Appeal the removal of the videos and the user account. Numerous users have filed counterclaims. Numerous users have had their accounts reinstated. Why can't Sapient and others do this?

Further, if the problem persists there is the option for legal action against CSEM.

And one last statement, the push for spamming the videos all over the place is actually a rather childish response. They're simply saying, "Oh yeah? You won't let us do this? Well, watch, we'll do it a thousand times! Haha! Showed you!"

How about we grow up, eh?

Other Comments by william.timberline

33. Comment #71402 by marius404 on September 18, 2007 at 5:26 pm

The rational response squad has just got their account on youtube reinstated. For all you people out there who have been hyper-critical about the RRS's tactics know this: IT WORKED

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34. Comment #71491 by william.timberline on September 18, 2007 at 10:44 pm

Marius,

Which tactic worked? My speculative guess is that Sapient filled a counter-notification, but did so after making a complete fool of himself over this mess. And the so-called 'agreement' must remain 'secret' to prevent him from further looking the fool.

I could be wrong. But, given his self-congratulatory references, and the childish manner in which he has conducted himself over the past few days, I would say it's a plausible explanation -- lacking more evidence.

Other Comments by william.timberline

35. Comment #71847 by kellym78 on September 19, 2007 at 6:51 pm

William - obviously, Brian is already aware of that considering the fact that he's been through this once before and in fact did (and is) suing Uri Geller.
The one making the fool of himself here is you, since you clearly know nothing of attorney/client privilege and the fact that one cannot give out that kind of info publicly.
I'm sorry if you can't stand that our group is the one that got this issue out there and into the media by using "childish" tactics, but then you would probably have done nothing and allowed these kinds of egregious abuses to occur.

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36. Comment #72919 by Hugo on September 23, 2007 at 2:12 pm

All those wondering about RichardDawkinsNet banning
(http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=richarddawkinsnet)
It was because some little copyright infringement on one movie that made YouTube ban the entire account.

Other Comments by Hugo