Re:Popcorn Time repository unavailable due to DMCA takedown
by afiori on Tuesday May 05, 2020 @01:10PM
(#23082294)
> used to verify a download of the original work
I have nothing against arguing that hosting hashes is illegal. It is not that far from facilitating piracy. What I am quite sure is that the hash itself is not covered by copyright.
If you can prove that I am hosting a file whose hash is equal to the hash of a mp4 file that encodes your movie then you can (probabilistically) prove that I am hosting that same file. This is also exactly how bittorrent authentication work if I remember correctly. (my only defense would be to exhibit a non-your-movie- file that still has the same hash)
But this would be no different (or at least comparable) than offering an easy to use list of download links. It would still have nothing to do with whether those links/hashes are derivative or not.
I have nothing against arguing that hosting hashes is illegal. It is not that far from facilitating piracy. What I am quite sure is that the hash itself is not covered by copyright.
If you can prove that I am hosting a file whose hash is equal to the hash of a mp4 file that encodes your movie then you can (probabilistically) prove that I am hosting that same file. This is also exactly how bittorrent authentication work if I remember correctly. (my only defense would be to exhibit a non-your-movie- file that still has the same hash)
But this would be no different (or at least comparable) than offering an easy to use list of download links. It would still have nothing to do with whether those links/hashes are derivative or not.