-919
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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[-] TheObserver@lemmy.world 36 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 34 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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[-] WereCat@lemmy.world 34 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?

[-] sadreality@kbin.social 33 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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[-] hal_5700X@lemmy.world 33 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 29 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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[-] Aurix@lemmy.world 33 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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[-] PugJesus@lemmy.world 32 points 1 year ago

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

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[-] theDIESEL999@lemmy.world 29 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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[-] harry_assman@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago

QQ: Have there been other communities removed and was it communicated?

I have just realized that c/Shrooms has been banned too, but I cannot find a statement regarding this particular ban.

Are or will there be more bans? I am not asking to complain about it or make remarks about which the decision is correct to me or not, but rather point out the lack of communication or unfortunate communication.

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[-] Belkor@lemmy.world 28 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 27 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.

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

Any suggestions on instances to move over to?

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[-] 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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[-] esty@lemmy.ca 26 points 1 year ago

is this the new most downvoted post on lemmy?

[-] tcj@lemmy.world 24 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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[-] pedroapero@lemmy.ml 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

From what I can see it is informational only. There is no direct content linking, this does not sound illegal.

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[-] eleitl@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago

Time to get serious about running my own instance. I now have to wonder what kind of political opinion I might voice which could make the instance operators liable. This is not tolerable long-term.

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[-] mneasi@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago

Ahhhh right, we are now one step closer to become the new reddit…

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[-] deadinside91@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

While I wish there was more transparency about this decision before action was taken, in this case it's kind of understandable due to the servers being hosted in Germany and them having really draconian piracy laws. Just hoping that this won't lead to a chain reaction of other communities being removed due to legal complaints.

In the meantime, happy to get my piracy content over at db0.

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[-] saga@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago

I‘m absolutely pro pirated software, as in many cases DRM violates many personal rights, so this decision will lead to the deletion of my account. I never support censorship. Gbye.

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this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2023
-919 points (32.8% liked)

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