[ad_1]
Facebook's new video streaming feature, Watch Party, is a huge success, bringing together users from around the world. There is just one problem: some use it in a way that Facebook did not intend to do and that is almost certainly illegal.
Launched in November for all users, Watch Party allows users to "host" video viewing events with friends and other people on the site, allowing them to watch simultaneously and comment or to react in real time to the contents of the screen.
According to Business Insider, hackers have also been very popular with hackers, as users rushed to this feature to broadcast copyrighted movies and TV shows to strangers via Facebook.
We found that illegal watch nights were frequent on the social network, broadcasting a range of media, ranging from relatively recent hits like "Her" to movie clbadics like "Mean Girls" and old television series like "Twilight Zone." ".
Groups have sprung up to organize these watch nights, with names such as "Super Film Club Watch Party" and "Watch Party Cinema", which often have hundreds or even thousands of users and are not looking to to conceal their purpose. Some, like "Firefly Watch Party – The Group", are dedicated to the simultaneous retransmission of a television show.
"Watch Party Central Movie Lovers Unite" openly presents itself as "a place where moviegoers can watch movies together for free and discuss it," while another group said, "The game's operation is simple. a member chooses a movie and we watch it all, then we will discuss the film and note the film in Rotten Carl Score's post for the film. "
Surveillance groups were also set up in independent groups to bring members together. "We are in 2005 and it's cool like hell" is an example of a group that has organized these events almost constantly, for which Facebook's automatic notifications have then alerted its some 119,000 members.
After Business Insider contacted Facebook for feedback, the company removed the groups listed above.
In a statement to Business Insider explaining attempts at group firing, Facebook representative Carolyn Thomas said: "We are devoting significant resources to combating the hacking of all videos on Facebook, including in Watch Parties. measures are in place to deal with the breaches content, including our notification and withdrawal program, our counterfeiters rights enforcement strategy, the rights manager and the use of Audible Magic. "
She added: "We take swift action against the infringement of intellectual property when we become aware of it and disable the accounts of recurring counterfeiters, if any, in which case the groups violated our Community intellectual property standards. and have been removed. "
Facebook has a long history of copyright infringement on the platform. In 2018, Business Insider reported that its groups were widely used to share pirated clips from popular movies, some even reaching hundreds of thousands of members through these media.
And content creators have been complaining for years of "free startup", when harmful users extract copies of their videos from other platforms like YouTube, and then upload them to Facebook without their permission.
Facebook's stated mission is "to empower people to create a community and bring the world closer", but the adoption of Watch Party by hackers shows that the company's features to create a "community" are not limited to virtuous uses. And more than that, this represents a noticeable change in the evolution of hacking.
Historically, this type of copyright infringement has been, for most people, a fundamentally lonely activity – the decision of a person to upload a specific video or broadcast a movie. All hacking forums or discussion groups were largely adjacent to the illegal activity, not the core of it.
But Watch Party introduces a social aspect to piracy, without requiring technical know-how from users. It turns piracy into a common TV experience, with users discussing copyright-protected content being read, connecting to each other in comments, or even setting up discussions to discuss what's going on. they will then have to watch together.
Facebook has already tried to wash their hands of the content violation. When Business Insider contacted the company in 2018 about piracy-focused groups, he refused to remove them, claiming that, unless rights holders complain, he could not be sure that the videos were illegally shared. even when they were clearly shared. recorded in cinemas by people using portable cameras.
Do you have a tip? Contact this reporter via the encrypted Message Encryption application at +1 (650) 636-6268 using a nonprofessional phone, send an email to [email protected], Telegram or WeChat to robaeprice, or Twitter DM to @robaeprice. (Public relations sites by email only.) You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.
[ad_2]
Source link
