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Udemy Uses DMCA To Delete Video Showing How to Access Courses Free & LegallyAndy Maxwell, 07 Dec 07:30 PM With more than 35 million students, 57,000

Udemy Uses DMCA To Delete Video Showing How to Access Courses Free & Legally Andy Maxwell, 07 Dec 07:30 PM With more than 35 million students, 57,000 instructors, and 400 million course enrollments, Udemy is a huge player in the online learning space. Accessing the company's content obviously comes at a price too so when online learning group ShareLearn spotted an opportunity for students to access thousands of Udemy courses legally and for free, they decided to share the information with the world. Tutorial Uploaded to YouTube To Help Students ShareLearn's four-minute video, which TorrentFreak was able to review on another platform, begins with a splash screen indicating that by using the techniques shown in the videos, thousands of courses can be accessed by students with the right credentials. While it does display the Udemy logo, a disclaimer at the start of the video states that the tutorial is "not affiliated with Udemy". The purpose of the video was to spread the word that Udemy has a partnership with Gale to provide "more than 6,000 high-quality, on-demand video courses taught by world-class instructors across 75 categories for upskilling in the areas of business, technology, and design." As part of this arrangement, free courses are available under some library systems. The System to Access Courses is Hosted By Gale The video reveals that if students from certain cities in the United States visit gale.udemy.com, they are presented with a portal that operates in partnership with their libraries, universities, colleges and schools. With the library option selected, a list of participating libraries appears. In the tutorial video, San Francisco library is used as an example. For authentication purposes, users are required to enter their library account credentials and from there they are passed to Udemy, which requires a Google or Microsoft account to proceed. The people at ShareLearn showed a screenshot of this page to make their tutorial easier to understand, as we have done with the screenshot of the video below. Udemy Files Copyright Complaint With YouTube Given the obviously useful nature of the video, it's perhaps reasonable to conclude that at least some students would've learned something from it. However, not too long after it was uploaded to YouTube, it was targeted by a Udemy copyright complaint which resulted in it being taken down. "[Udemy] has claimed copyright infringement for use of their logo," ShareLearn informs TorrentFreak. "We believe it is covered under fair use and they want to hold us from promoting this option to avoid people from using this library service paid by taxpayers. I have sent them a few emails, but they have given a standard reply that we violated their copyright," ShareLearn add. Udemy's Legal Department Refuses to Reconsider From correspondence reviewed by TF, ShareLearn told Udemy that they "appreciate what Udemy is doing for society" and were excited to see the Udemy/Gale/libraries partnership, noting that the project seemed like a good use of taxpayers' money. "In this video, we have used udemy logo as a reference to udemy, which is covered under fair use. We used screenshots from gale.udemy.com website to help library patterns sign up for your service via public library, which is covered under fair use [sic]," the correspondence reads. ShareLearn then presented Udemy's legal team with a list of questions requesting additional information on why the inclusion of screenshots bearing Udemy's logo can't be considered fair use. The group also asked where Udemy itself advertises the availability of the free service to students. In its response, Udemy ignored the questions and reiterated its key objection. "When material posted on other platforms infringes Udemy's intellectual property rights, or on the rights of our instructors, we have an obligation to protect those works," the company said. "We have reviewed the takedown notice in question, and confirmed the infringement therein. If you have questions about intellectual property matters such as trademark, copyright, fair use, etc. you may wish to consult an attorney. Udemy cannot provide you with any legal advice on these matters." ShareLearn Files YouTube Counternotice ShareLearn has filed a counternotice with YouTube in an effort to have the video restored but at the time of writing, that is still pending and the content remains down. What will happen next is unclear. The takedown from YouTube was filed under copyright law, clearly referencing Udemy's "copyrighted logo". Whether any fair use defense is applicable in this case will be for lawyers to argue over but aside from the 20-second intro page (shown in the screenshot above, which includes a disclaimer), the only use of the Udemy logo thereafter is when screenshots/screen recordings of the Udemy/Gale website/system are displayed. Given that the idea of the video was to promote Udemy products and services developed alongside Gale and libraries for the benefit of students, the copyright complaint and subsequent removal seem somewhat overzealous, if not counterproductive too. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Team-Xecuter Defendant 'GaryOPA' is a Flight Risk and Remains in Prison Ernesto Van der Sar, 07 Dec 01:25 PM Hacking group Team-Xecuter has long been a thorn in the side of major gaming companies. The group offers hardware and software solutions that allow people to install and play unofficial games – including pirated copies – on various consoles, including the popular Nintendo Switch. Team-Xecuter often defended its work by pointing out that their products are not necessarily pirate tools. They are supporters of the 'right to repair' movement and back people who want to play homebrew games on their devices for personal use. The affected game companies disagree, with Nintendo front and center. The Japanese gaming company has been chasing down Team-Xecuter for years and a few months ago the company took several online stores to court for selling Team-Xecuter products. In October, these enforcement efforts reached a new level when the US Government launched a criminal prosecution of three of the group's members. Bowser aka 'GaryOPA' One of the defendants is Canadian Gary Bowser. He was arrested in the Dominican Republic in September and was deported to the US soon after. Bowser was allegedly responsible for the development of circumvention devices and maintained regular contact with resellers. Bowser is perhaps best known through his nickname GaryOPA, the supposed operator and a frequent writer on the website "MaxConsole," which regularly reviewed Team-Xecuter hardware and other hacking tools. Flight Risk In a 'Zoom' hearing held last week, a federal court in Seattle reviewed a request for pretrial detention, submitted by the US prosecution. It is not uncommon for criminal defendants to be released on bail pending their trial, but the US argues against this in Bowser's case, as he's considered a 'flight risk.' The court agrees. "Defendant poses a risk of nonappearance due to his lack of ties to this district, ties to Canada and the Dominican Republic, ownership of a Canadian passport, history of international travel, unstable living situation, and an uncorroborated personal history," US Magistrate Judge Michelle Peterson writes. "Based on these findings, and for the reasons stated on the record, there does not appear to be any condition or combination of conditions that will reasonably assure the Defendant's appearance at future court hearings," she adds. Bowser was not interviewed by the court, which currently has no information on his family ties, personal history, or employment. That leaves the door open to reopening the detention hearing at a future date, which may change things. The Other Defendants There is no update on the other defendants at this point. Based on the information in the court dockets, Yuanning Chen from China is still at large. According to the indictment, Chen managed a manufacturing and distribution company where Team-Xecuter's hardware was made. The third defendant, French national Max Louarn, was arrested in Canada where a U.S. extradition request was launched. The US Government sees Louarn, who's hacking track record goes back to the early nineties, as the leader of Team-Xecuter. Louarn allegedly made Team-Xecuter's important business decisions, arranged investors and financing, and oversaw product development and the wholesale distribution chains. Nintendo Takes Over Domains The US criminal prosecution is not the only legal pressure on Team-Xecuter. Nintendo has also seen very active on the legal front. One of the stores it sued earlier this year, Axiogame.com, was allegedly operated by Team-Xecuter. That has been shut down through Nintendo's lawsuit. The Axiogame.com domain is now owned by Nintendo and over recent days the gaming company took over several other domains of former piracy hack stores, assisted by an updated court order. Flashcarda.com switched to the new Materpl.com domain and both are owned by Nintendo now. The same is true for Txswitch.com that switched to Stxwitch.com, Usachipss.com that moved to Nerged.com, and several other domains. Team-Xecuter Continues Despite the mounting legal pressure, Team-Xecuter is far from defeated. In fact, the site's main website remains online. The forum remains active as well, with people privately offering help to install or buy mods. Team-Xecuter's dedicated page for the SX product line is also still intact. This links to a list of authorized resellers. While many of these stores are offline now, a few are still actively selling. — A copy of the detention order issued by US Magistrate Judge Michelle Peterson is available here (pdf). Nintendo's filing, pointing out the newly targeted shop domains can be found here (pdf) From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. ©2020 TorrentFreak | Office 21338 PO Box 4336 Manchester, North West M61 0BW United Kingdom Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company