Techdirt. Stories filed under "psa"

Microsoft Releases Utterly Bizarre And Confusing Anti-Piracy Video

Leigh Beadon — Wed, 4 Apr 2012 13:41:00 PDT

Boo! You didn't see me there, did you? That's because I'm one insidious sonofabitch. My name's piracy, and I'm everywhere. I will do things like disguise myself as a photocopier and infiltrate your business via identity theft. Or, umm, something. Here, I'll let this dramatic PSA from Microsoft fail to explain it to you:

Understand? No? Good! We want you confused and bewildered! If you're not careful, I will steal your external hard drives and stalk your attractive female employees. I even contribute to littering. And I do it all to the ominous notes of pizzicato strings, like Elmer Fudd hunting wabbits. Learn more at Microsoft's anti-piracy website, which is so poorly designed as to look like a knockoff itself—that is, if I don't run off with your computer first. Muahahaha! Piracy!

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Press Realizing That ICE May Be Breaking The Law Showing NBC Universal Propaganda Films On Domains It Seized

Mike Masnick — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:35:09 PST

Over the last year or so, we've been one of the few publications out there following the exceptionally questionable use of NBC propaganda material by the federal government as if it were its own content. You may recall that NBC Universal created some propaganda "anti-piracy" PSAs for New York City, in which actor/comedian Tom Pappa claims "there's no such thing as a free movie." The irony that he's saying so while appearing on a free YouTube video stream is apparently totally lost on him.

A few months later, the same video, minus references to NYC, appeared on the YouTube page of the Immigrations & Customs Enforcement group ICE (part of Homeland Security). No reference was made to the fact that the video was created by NBC Universal. A few weeks later, these videos started appearing on domains that ICE had seized, and then forfeited.

After filing a series of Freedom of Information Act requests, we found out that the videos were property of NBC Universal -- something that ICE (to this day) refuses to disclose. Further FOIA requests turned up no records of ICE ever properly licensing the video.

Already, this should be exceptionally troubling. ICE running corporate propaganda without any disclosure? And doing so on websites it had seized under questionable legality?

Turns out the story gets even worse. Jeff Roberts over at PaidContent notes that, under civil forfeiture procedures, the federal government must sell or destroy forfeited property. It cannot keep it and use it for itself. It does not appear to be legal to make use of the property for other purposes -- and certainly not for spreading corporate propaganda without disclosure.

The article also points out, quite reasonably, that it seems odd that ICE is using these videos -- which present a ridiculously inaccurate and one-sided argument that "piracy" is taking away movie industry jobs -- on web sites seized & forfeited for trademark violations. That seems extra weird. The sites have nothing to do with downloading movies, as the video discusses. And do the big brand companies that urged ICE to seize these domains to "protect their trademarks" really feel comfortable with the federal government now running NBC Universal propaganda on those domains instead?

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Announcing Contest Winners!

Mike Masnick — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:07:28 PST

As you may recall, over the last couple months we ran two separate contests, in which we are giving away $11,000 in $1,000 chunks. Today we're announcing all the winners. The first was our PSA contest, where we asked people to create short PSA videos about the impact of technology on creativity. For that one, congrats to Joshua Rodriguez, who made an entertaining video that actually lays out both the "pro" and "con" arguments for how infringement is impacting creativity: Nicely done -- even if I don't personally agree with all of the arguments, that was kinda the point of the contest. Unlike NBC Universal's similar contest (which was officially put on by New York City), we didn't want to give people a preset talking point. We wanted people to be creative on their own, and Joshua did a great job.

The second contest was for submitting case studies on our new Step2 platform for helping people create "success models." Somewhat surprisingly, we didn't even get submissions in every category, so we're giving $1,000 each to the overall 10 best case studies that got submitted -- per user voting. Here's the list in order of user votes:

Can transparency give fans a reason to buy?: Andy Richard's great discussion showing how being more transparent with revenue details with his fans seemed to give fans more of a reason to buy.
Cucumbers & Gin - a film of a violin piece: Kevin Clark's story about using Kickstarter to finance a music video also explained how success is judged in more ways than just money.
Does making your pond smaller work to make you a bigger fish?: Zoe Keating's explanation of "what's worked for her" in building up such a huge fanbase and a truly "DIY" success story as an independent musician.
What are some infinite goods that a maker of physical objects could give away?: Kyle Clements flips the equation for us a bit, and tries to get people thinking about infinite goods that can be used to promote the kind of physical artwork he does.
Married Man Sex Life: The Marketing Plan: Author Athol Kay discusses the marketing strategy for his book, and then goes on in the comments to give us play by play updates as he experiments and tries different pricing strategies.
Kickstarter: Does It Even Matter What You Sell?: Amanda Palmer's case study about the success of her Kickstarter campaign, in which she notes that true fans will figure out ways to support you, no matter what you sell.
Building Your Film's Fanbase... The Hard Way: Will Robertson's discussion of how he and others hustled their way around the country promoting and showing the horror film they made.
Bodies on the Floor: Improving Show Attendence: Matthew Bile's excellent case study on how his band was able to build their fan base and get more people out to their shows.
Social-Networking Do's and Don't's...know your fans to keep your fans!: Katey Laruel's discussion of how to connect (and how not to connect) with fans via social networking.
Ways to grow a non-artistic content provider Michael Lato discusses his series of YouTube videos for DIY home construction projects.

If you're on this list and haven't heard from us already, you will soon... Thanks to everyone for participating, and there's lots more going on over at Step2, and plenty more on the way...

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Reminder: Create A PSA About The Impact Of Technology On Creativity And You Can Win $1,000

Mike Masnick — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:38:08 PDT

As you may remember, NBC Universal via New York City, is running a contest trying to get NYC school children to create anti-piracy public service announcement (PSA) propaganda videos. In exchange for that, they're giving the "winner" $500... but also taking their copyright. We think it's a bit ironic that a contest where you're forced to only talk about how great copyright is also forces you to give up your copyright.

Anyway, thanks to some generous Techdirt readers (and a matching grant from us directly), we're offering our own contest and the deadline is rapidly approaching. You've basically got a week left. We're looking for the PSAs to be about the impact of technology on creativity. We're not giving you talking points, or even a specific view you have to take. Unlike NBC Universal and New York City, we trust you to make your own arguments, not regurgitate what you've been handed. We're also offering twice the amount of money they are... and we don't force you to give up your copyright. So, step on up. Details of how to enter can be found here.

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DailyDirt: Video Challenges

Michael Ho — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:00:00 PDT

Do you have a video camera and untapped creative juices? There are more and more outlets for uploading your videos, and there are even people willing to pay you for your contributions. Here are just a few open video contests out there.

Create your own Public Service Announcement on how technology has made an impact on creativity. There's a $1000 prize available, and it's due on October 28th, 2011. (Oh yeah, and you can keep the copyright to your submissions for this one because we're sponsoring it!) [url]
The USDA has a Fruits&Veggies contest looking for a 30-second video on how to add more plants to your diet. The first prize is $1500, and the submission period ends November 15, 2011. [url]
Submit a video on the theme of Unlikely Innovation here. The winner receives $5000, and it's due on December 30, 2011. [url]
To find other interesting links for entrepreneurial folks, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

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Did ICE 'Pirate' Its Anti-Piracy PSA?

Mike Masnick — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:27:58 PDT

As you may recall, earlier this year Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) group proudly announced that it had started placing a video "public service announcement" (PSA) on all of the domains that it had forfeited (without any trial) from those it accused of violating intellectual property laws. The PSA they used was interesting for a variety of reasons. It involved actor/comedian Tom Papa, telling people on the streets of New York that getting a movie for free meant a boom operator would be out of work. The first thing that was interesting... was that it appeared to be almost identical to a video that was part of a New York City anti-piracy campaign. At least the feds made one small edit that took out the totally false claim that "there's no such thing as a free movie."

So, we were wondering, if the feds were really so concerned about getting actors paid... just how much did they pay Tom Papa and the boom mic operator for their appearance in the video. Did they pay anything? After all, rather than actually hiring actors and paying them, all ICE did was "copy" someone else's video. So, we asked PR people at ICE and in the NYC government... and got back nothing. Seemed odd.

So, then we filed some freedom of information act requests. Our request to NYC turned up the information that the videos were owned by NBC Universal. This was also odd. After all, nowhere does the federal government say that the videos are property of NBC Universal. You would think that when the federal government is running propaganda videos created by a private company, the least they could do is acknowledge where they came from. But, still, even if they were owned by NBC Universal, was the federal government (and our taxpayer dollars) paying these actors?

My first FOIA request to ICE was sent back saying there were no responsive documents. That seemed odd. Did ICE not license the video? We filed a second FOIA request that was even more specific to make sure... and while ICE initially sent back a "no responsive documents" response, they later admitted that was in error and sent back ten pages. But those ten pages show nothing about any licensing info. Instead, they include a press release bragging about the PSA getting 100,000 views, and some emails related to that press release. You can see that embedded below.

So, at this point, we're still left wondering: did ICE license the video at all? Or did they "pirate" it? After all, in the original version of this video, Tom Papa clearly states, "there's no such thing as a free movie." Yet, ICE can't seem to find any paperwork at all to show that they properly licensed the PSA or that they paid for it or any of the actors appearing in it. And given the way ICE has been leaping to conclusions about "piracy" on the websites they seize, I think I've provided ICE with much more courtesy to prove that they weren't violating anyone's copyright here than ICE does with the sites they seize.

So, I think it's fair to say that a reasonable person could conclude that, yes, ICE "pirated" it's anti-piracy PSA -- and until they show proof that they properly licensed it, this should be the working assumption. So, uh, when does ICE seize ICE's domain?

As you ponder that, don't forget that NBC Universal is working on making its next round of propaganda PSA's that will be "pirated" by the government, and doing so by getting schoolchildren to repeat talking points. In response, we're running a counter-contest, in which we're asking people to create videos about how creativity is impacted by technology. Unlike the propaganda campaign, we're not giving you the talking points (we believe you can think and speak for yourself). Also, unlike their campaign we don't take your copyright. Oh yeah, and we're offering more money.

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Is Talking About The Beatles As A Wonderful 'Shared Experience' Really Wise In An Anti-Piracy PSA?

Tim Cushing — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:27:00 PDT

Music Matters has just released the latest in its string of anti-piracy PSAs, most of which feature recording artists explaining how music has affected their lives. This one features some excellent animation, along with a nice selection of tracks, and it details one person's lifelong relationship with the Beatles' music. It closes by stating that loving a band is a shared experience that brings many people together. All in all, it's a well done tribute that John Lennon certainly would have approved.

Of course, it's tough to watch this promo, which celebrates "sharing" music, without feeling a bit like you're being beaten over the head with an extremely heavy irony stick wielded by someone who has no idea how hard they're swinging it. For starters, Unnamed Protagonist states that he first heard the Beatles' music when it "floated through his window." As picturesque as this scenario may be, the end result will most likely be dismayed gasps from the BMIs and the ASCAPs of the world, who hate to see a public performance go unpunished.

In fact, the video seems to be making the opposite point of the one it's intended to make. It shows just how important sharing is to make culture culture. You've got really mixed messages here. The Beatles are a shared experience, but sharing it with others outside of the way they want you to share it is bad -- even as the (nameless) person profiled clearly enjoys the Beatles in his own way. Like hearing it through the window. Or out in the street with his evicted belongings. Or surrounded by friends in an unlicensed open air venue.

On top of that, the Beatles seem like a really odd choice for such a PSA.

Whatever level a person's love for the Beatles might be, it's pretty tough to find much reciprocation from the band itself, which spent most of the last decade making sure that the only digital copies of their music available were illegal copies. The band also spent a fair amount of time shooting down licensing requests and otherwise making their catalog about as approachable as a badger covered in live hand grenades.

Between the Beatles' "yes, we love you, too but only through very selective channels" and Music Matters' "music is a good thing but only through selective channels," the whole idea of music being a communal experience, one that relies on sharing, kind of gets lost. Even worse, because this is a Music Matters promo aimed at reducing piracy, the message shifts from "Music matters because it's shared," to "Don't share music because, together, we can keep music from mattering."

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Why Is The Federal Government Running Ads Secretly Created & Owned By NBC Universal?

Mike Masnick — Thu, 9 Jun 2011 09:19:00 PDT

We certainly suspected this when New York City first announced that it was running a series of silly and misleading videos as part of a media campaign to "Stop Piracy in NYC," but now it's been confirmed that these videos were not, in fact, New York City's, but are purely NBC Universal's. At the time, NYC had "thanked" NBC Universal (among others), but had not admitted that NBC Universal "owned" and had created the videos themselves. However, in response to one of the Freedom of Information requests that I filed with New York City, the city noted that the videos are property of NBC Universal. I had asked for any licensing info between NYC and Homeland Security/ICE because ICE was using the same videos. Since NYC had clearly suggested that those videos were the creation of the NYC government, I assumed that ICE must have licensed the videos from NYC. However, NYC responded to my request by saying that there was no such info to hand over, because it did not license the videos to Homeland Security. And the reason was that NYC did not own the videos:

The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment has no records responsive to your request. Please note that NBC Universal owns the material, not the City of New York.

That's fascinating information. Of course, I had also filed a separate FOI request for any info on the licensing agreement between NYC and NBC Universal. As of this writing there has been no response from NYC, in violation of New York State's Freedom of Information Law, which requires a response within 5 business days (we're way beyond that).

Still, at least give NYC credit for making it clear that NBC Universal had a hand in the creation of the videos, even if it left out the rather pertinent information that it created and owned the videos. While I find it immensely troubling that a municipal government would run PSAs created by corporate interests (without making that clear), I'm extremely troubled by the news that the federal government would run those same videos with absolutely no mention of the fact that the videos were created and owned by a private corporation with a tremendous stake in the issue.

Could you imagine how the press would react if, say, the FDA ran PSAs that were created and owned by McDonald's without making that clear to the public? How about if the Treasury Department ran a PSA created and owned by Goldman Sachs? So, shouldn't we be asking serious questions about why Homeland Security and ICE are running a one-sided, misleading corporate propaganda video, created and owned by a private company, without mentioning the rather pertinent information of who made it?

Does Homeland Security work for the US public... or for NBC Universal?

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Instead Of Hiring Film Crew To Make PSA About Out Of Work Film Crews, ICE Just Reruns Someone Else's Video

Mike Masnick — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 09:20:51 PDT

Well, this is just bizarre. You may recall that late last year, NBC Universal worked with New York City to create a silly "anti-piracy" propaganda video that was not even close to accurate. It amusingly claimed that there is "no such thing as a free movie," while using YouTube, a free video platform... for free. We were left scratching our heads, a few weeks back, when pointing out that Homeland Security's ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) was now using the same video on its YouTube account -- stripped of all references to New York City.

Well, as part of World Intellectual Property Day, ICE has flat out lied and is pretending that this video is a "new" PSA that it's put together, and which it will now be placing on the domains it illegally forfeits, without any sort of adversarial hearing.

Shouldn't we be just a bit concerned that Homeland Security's ICE group is placing a video, financed by NBC Universal, which makes blatantly false statements concerning copyright law and the impact of copyright infringement, on domains that it has seized illegally? Even worse, the press, who should know better, are simply parroting the claims from ICE that this is a new PSA from ICE. It's not. It's from NY City at the urging of NBC Universal. It's also not accurate.

Of course, what would be funny, if it weren't so sad, is that ICE's John Morton thinks that this video will "educate the general public about the real consequence of IP theft." That's doubtful. As has been explained over and over again -- including in the recent SSRC report -- the issue is not education at all, but better business models. This kind of propaganda is simply laughable and its insulting that Morton thinks the American public is so stupid as to be fooled by false statements about intellectual property.

In the meantime, though, can we point out the serious irony here: ICE and the feds are apparently too freaking cheap to pay for the creation of their own anti-piracy PSA about putting video crew people out of work. Yes, ICE could have hired a nice film crew, like the one in the video that will be put out of work due to "piracy." But, instead, it just used a video that was already made... meaning it didn't actually help put anyone to work. The film crew that the Stop Piracy in NYC site originally highlighted as being at risk due to piracy... are they getting any money from ICE?

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Uploader Of Guns 'N Roses Album Never Forced To Do RIAA Propaganda; So He Tells The Truth Instead

Mike Masnick — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:32:58 PDT

A year ago, we wrote about the ridiculous situation involving Kevin Cogill, who was sentenced to two months of house arrest. We noted, at the time, that part of the agreement was also that he would produce propaganda for the RIAA. However, a year has passed and he never did the propaganda recording... and he's no longer required to do it. Instead, he's doing interviews where he's saying that people involved in file sharing can get "F'd in the A" by the RIAA. Not quite what the RIAA expected, I guess.

Amusingly, the RIAA's response was that it chose not to have Cogill make the propaganda tapes because of the "unnecessarily high production costs." Leave it to the RIAA -- the organization that pays its boss over $2 million and spends millions on lawsuits that bring nothing back -- to think it's too expensive to record a guy talking. But, perhaps it's telling. Maybe the folks at the RIAA really don't recognize the revolution in recording equipment that makes it rather cheap to record things these days. No wonder their strategy has been so screwed up!

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