Commerce Department's Internet Policy Task Force Releases Report Evaluating DMCA Takedown Processes

The Department of Commerce Internet Policy Task Force’s report Tuesday on Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice-and-takedown processes identified a series of good, bad and situational practices to improve the efficiency and handling of the DMCA notices for both senders and recipients. The IPTF said its multistakeholder forum on the DMCA processes, which began meeting in March 2014, considered a broad range of issues that it could solve without the need for new legislation. Good practices include writing DMCA takedown notices in easily understandable “plain English” language and implementing efficient processes, the IPTF said in the report. Bad practices include obfuscating the DMCA takedown process by hiding contact information or DMCA takedown web forms behind multiple click-through ads, the IPTF said. Trusted submitter programs can result in the submission of accurate information while also creating an efficient process, while security measures like CAPTCHA codes can help service providers to offer online DMCA submission mechanisms at the same time they protect websites against attacks, the IPTF said. “The group’s agreement on a set of good and bad practices shows that progress can be made in this area, and should be especially helpful for small businesses and individuals with less experience operating within the system,” Shira Perlmutter, Patent and Trademark Office chief policy officer and director-international affairs, said in a news release.