TV Links
Encyclopedia
TV Links was a user contributed
online video directory
for television program
mes, film
s, and music video
s. In a similar style to BitTorrent tracker
s such as The Pirate Bay
, video content was not hosted by TV Links. Instead, videos were hosted by third-party video sharing
websites. The website was operated as a hobby by David Rock
of Cheltenham
, England
.
On October 18, 2007, the website's servers, located in the Netherlands
, were raided and shut down by Gloucestershire
police in cooperation with the Federation Against Copyright Theft
(FACT) in response to complaints received from major US
film studios about TV Links. No official clarification was made to date as to why the website was shut down. Simultaneously, David Rock was arrested, and later released pending further investigation, without being charged with a crime. Although FACT initially stated that the raid was performed because of allegations of copyright infringement
, it later stated that Rock was arrested for trademark infringement
.
s to videos on video sharing websites.
On about March 20, 2007, the website was updated to use a streaming web-based video player, and direct external links were no longer made available.
police in cooperation with the Federation Against Copyright Theft
(FACT), and the website was shut down.
Initial claims by FACT indicated the arrest was made due to offenses of facilitating copyright infringement
. However, it was later made clear that the arrest was over a matter of possible trademark infringement
.
In a statement issued by FACT following the events, local trading standards
head Roger Marles, has implied that the website's update from hyperlink
s to a streaming video player might have affected the shutdown. He stated that the arrest and shutdown were initiated because TV Links allowed users "[to view] any one of a large number of films and television programmes directly via the website. This is illegal under UK copyright law
."
Whilst arrested under Section 92 of the Trade Marks Act 1994
, he has now been released "pending further investigation" with no charges filed against him. Section 92 has been used to prosecute illegal copiers of CDs and DVDs, but never in the absence of a physical storage medium. It is unclear whether the operation of TV Links was actually a crime under UK law. In an interview, Rock stated that he would have not started the website if he had found anything in the laws of the country stating that what he was doing was illegal.
websites. TV Links used hyperlink
s, and later a streaming web-based video player, in order to link visitors to videos.
The website had a forum community with a membership of around 37,000 members at the time of closure. Links to videos were posted daily on the forums by members, and later moved to the website listings by admins.
After the video player was introduced, the website's crew enforced a strict policy against saving the provided video content, and viewing it outside the scope of its video player. This policy was further enforced by a technical implementation, the URL that directed
the video player to video files contained a randomly generated MD5
encoded string, and was made to expire after several minutes, or after being loaded once.
so that UK copyright law
could not apply to them.
As part of the effort to protect the website against legal action, a link to the following legal disclaimer was displayed at the bottom of most pages.
, had described the practices of linking to copyrighted content as "teetering on the edge of illegality" in an article on similar video directory services.
On the other hand, it has been speculated that concerns over the popularity of websites such as TV Links were an influence on the launch of official online video on demand
services from Britain's terrestrial television networks, such as the BBC iPlayer
and 4od
.
User-generated content
User generated content covers a range of media content available in a range of modern communications technologies. It entered mainstream usage during 2005 having arisen in web publishing and new media content production circles...
online video directory
Web directory
A web directory or link directory is a directory on the World Wide Web. It specializes in linking to other web sites and categorizing those links....
for television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
mes, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s, and music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s. In a similar style to BitTorrent tracker
BitTorrent tracker
A BitTorrent tracker is a server that assists in the communication between peers using the BitTorrent protocol. It is also, in the absence of extensions to the original protocol, the only major critical point, as clients are required to communicate with the tracker to initiate downloads...
s such as The Pirate Bay
The Pirate Bay
The Pirate Bay is a Swedish website which hosts magnet links and .torrent files, which allow users to share electronic files, including multimedia, computer games and software via BitTorrent...
, video content was not hosted by TV Links. Instead, videos were hosted by third-party video sharing
Video sharing
Video hosting services refers to websites or software where users can distribute their video clips. Other sites such as file hosting services image hosting services and social network services might support video sharing as an enhancement to their primary mission, but in general, they are not...
websites. The website was operated as a hobby by David Rock
David Rock
David Rock is the name of:* David Rock , English architect and graphic designer* David Rock , see Strategy+Business* David Rock , historian of Latin America* David Rock, owner of the company TV Links...
of Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
On October 18, 2007, the website's servers, located in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, were raided and shut down by Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
police in cooperation with the Federation Against Copyright Theft
Federation Against Copyright Theft
The Federation Against Copyright Theft is a trade organisation in the UK established to represent the interests of the its members in the film and broadcasting business on copyright and trademark issues. Established in 1983, FACT works with law enforcement agencies on copyright-infringement issues...
(FACT) in response to complaints received from major US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film studios about TV Links. No official clarification was made to date as to why the website was shut down. Simultaneously, David Rock was arrested, and later released pending further investigation, without being charged with a crime. Although FACT initially stated that the raid was performed because of allegations of copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
, it later stated that Rock was arrested for trademark infringement
Trademark infringement
Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees...
.
History
TV Links launched on October 2006, following a surge in services of its kind. At that time, it provided hyperlinkHyperlink
In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to data that the reader can directly follow, or that is followed automatically. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text with hyperlinks...
s to videos on video sharing websites.
On about March 20, 2007, the website was updated to use a streaming web-based video player, and direct external links were no longer made available.
Shutdown and arrests by UK government
On October 18, 2007, owner David Rock was arrested by the GloucestershireGloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
police in cooperation with the Federation Against Copyright Theft
Federation Against Copyright Theft
The Federation Against Copyright Theft is a trade organisation in the UK established to represent the interests of the its members in the film and broadcasting business on copyright and trademark issues. Established in 1983, FACT works with law enforcement agencies on copyright-infringement issues...
(FACT), and the website was shut down.
Initial claims by FACT indicated the arrest was made due to offenses of facilitating copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
. However, it was later made clear that the arrest was over a matter of possible trademark infringement
Trademark infringement
Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees...
.
In a statement issued by FACT following the events, local trading standards
Trading Standards
Trading Standards is the name given to local authority departments in the UK formerly known as Weights and Measures. These departments investigate commercial organisations that carry out trade in unethical ways or outside the scope of the law.-History:...
head Roger Marles, has implied that the website's update from hyperlink
Hyperlink
In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to data that the reader can directly follow, or that is followed automatically. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text with hyperlinks...
s to a streaming video player might have affected the shutdown. He stated that the arrest and shutdown were initiated because TV Links allowed users "[to view] any one of a large number of films and television programmes directly via the website. This is illegal under UK copyright law
Copyright law of the United Kingdom
The modern concept of copyright originated in the United Kingdom, in the year 1710, with the Statute of Anne.The current copyright law of the United Kingdom is to be found in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 , as amended...
."
Whilst arrested under Section 92 of the Trade Marks Act 1994
Trade Marks Act 1994
The Trade Marks Act 1994 is the law governing trademarks within the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man. It implements EU Directive No. 89/104/EEC which forms the framework for the trade mark laws of all EU member states, and replaced an earlier law, the Trade Marks Act 1938...
, he has now been released "pending further investigation" with no charges filed against him. Section 92 has been used to prosecute illegal copiers of CDs and DVDs, but never in the absence of a physical storage medium. It is unclear whether the operation of TV Links was actually a crime under UK law. In an interview, Rock stated that he would have not started the website if he had found anything in the laws of the country stating that what he was doing was illegal.
Operation
Video content that was used by the website was hosted by third-party video sharingVideo sharing
Video hosting services refers to websites or software where users can distribute their video clips. Other sites such as file hosting services image hosting services and social network services might support video sharing as an enhancement to their primary mission, but in general, they are not...
websites. TV Links used hyperlink
Hyperlink
In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to data that the reader can directly follow, or that is followed automatically. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text with hyperlinks...
s, and later a streaming web-based video player, in order to link visitors to videos.
The website had a forum community with a membership of around 37,000 members at the time of closure. Links to videos were posted daily on the forums by members, and later moved to the website listings by admins.
After the video player was introduced, the website's crew enforced a strict policy against saving the provided video content, and viewing it outside the scope of its video player. This policy was further enforced by a technical implementation, the URL that directed
URL redirection
URL redirection, also called URL forwarding and the very similar technique domain redirection also called domain forwarding, are techniques on the World Wide Web for making a web page available under many URLs.- Similar domain names :...
the video player to video files contained a randomly generated MD5
MD5
The MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm is a widely used cryptographic hash function that produces a 128-bit hash value. Specified in RFC 1321, MD5 has been employed in a wide variety of security applications, and is also commonly used to check data integrity...
encoded string, and was made to expire after several minutes, or after being loaded once.
Legal efforts
The website's servers were purposely located in the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
so that UK copyright law
Copyright law of the United Kingdom
The modern concept of copyright originated in the United Kingdom, in the year 1710, with the Statute of Anne.The current copyright law of the United Kingdom is to be found in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 , as amended...
could not apply to them.
As part of the effort to protect the website against legal action, a link to the following legal disclaimer was displayed at the bottom of most pages.
Reception
Eva Wiseman, of The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, had described the practices of linking to copyrighted content as "teetering on the edge of illegality" in an article on similar video directory services.
On the other hand, it has been speculated that concerns over the popularity of websites such as TV Links were an influence on the launch of official online video on demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
services from Britain's terrestrial television networks, such as the BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer, commonly shortened to iPlayer, is an internet television and radio service, developed by the BBC to extend its former RealPlayer-based and other streamed video clip content to include whole TV shows....
and 4od
4oD
4oD is a video on demand service from Channel 4. Launched in November 2006, 4oD stands for "4 on Demand". The service offers a variety of programmes recently shown on Channel 4, E4, More4 or from their archives...
.
External links
.- The Inside Story of the TV-Links Bust an interview with the admin of TV Links on TorrentFreak