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An unfortunate double-standard of the DMCA is that only damages are recoverable in the event of a false takedown.

There's an ongoing case right now that would test whether "loss of free speech" is a recoverable damage.

Best of luck to Automattic, it's nice to see someone taking action.



Isn't some sort of criminal sanction for "perjury" an additional consequence? Or is that entirely toothless?


IANAL but I've been censored by the DMCA before and fought it. My understanding is that perjury is a crime against the court/government, so you'd have to convince a district attorney to pursue it which is rarely done.

Also, the takedown requires a much weaker statement under perjury than the counter-takedown. "the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed". There's (bizarrely) no need to claim good faith.

Edit: here's my story: https://medium.com/this-happened-to-me/9ccd3a157914




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