Announcement on Rule 3 and Doujin/Hentai Websites

[ultima333]

As some of you may be aware, Rule 3 prohibits links to piracy websites that allow bulk downloading of unauthorized works:

Do not link to pirated content.

• Linking to manga reader sites and image hosting sites like Danbooru, imgur, etc does not count.
• Manga readers that give a download option, such as ExHentai, may be mentioned along with the title of a work, but not linked to.
• Linking download repositories like Dropbox, MegaSync, etc DOES count as linking to pirated content.

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Enforcement has been fairly lax, and it came up that there are a rather large amount of links to those sites.
As such, we have implemented Xenforo's word replacement/censorship to auto break the URL links to those sites. This will work by breaking the clickability of the websites.
For example, instead of the direct URL for "doujinsite.com" it would be replaced with "doujinsiite dot com"


Please do not attempt to work around this filter. Direct links to sites hosting pirated content is still against the rules.

 

[JadeKaiser]

For anybody who might be confused about the wording of the announcement post re: "those sites" that have been affected by this filter, it is referring to some popular manga readers with a download option.

 

[Jace Spicer]

I can only assume some people just kept going and going with doing that and kept toeing the line, jumped over it

 

[DaigoMyGOAT]

Is the download repository itself banned since it has pirated content, or am I permitted to link to download repositories for other, non pirated content.

 

[ultima333]

Is the download repository itself banned since it has pirated content, or am I permitted to link to download repositories for other, non pirated content.

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The former. The liability to QQ is with illegal content, which includes pirated content.

Sites that are *primarily used* for pirated content are a major liability though, and thus get the forbidden treatment.

If you're linking to a source of say, free open source/non-copywrited books via Mega, that's not illegal nor is Mega primarily used for hosting pirated content so that's fine.

 

[Ian Moone]

I'm confused about the wording, is Danbooru and imgur banned?

 

[tacobowl8]

I'm confused about the wording, is Danbooru and imgur banned?

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Quoting from the rules:

• Do not link to pirated content.
  • Linking to manga reader sites and image hosting sites like Danbooru, imgur, etc does not count.
  • Manga readers that give a download option, such as ExHentai, may be mentioned along with the title of a work, but not linked to.
  • Linking download repositories like Dropbox, MegaSync, etc DOES count as linking to pirated content.

Danbooru, imgur, etc. are fine.

 

[NumberSix]

A lot of sites don't let you download outright but let you get a magnet link or download a torrent file.
That technically doesn't mean you are downloading from them.

 

[Ian Moone]

Quoting from the rules:

• Do not link to pirated content.
  • Linking to manga reader sites and image hosting sites like Danbooru, imgur, etc does not count.
  • Manga readers that give a download option, such as ExHentai, may be mentioned along with the title of a work, but not linked to.
  • Linking download repositories like Dropbox, MegaSync, etc DOES count as linking to pirated content.

Danbooru, imgur, etc. are fine.

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Thank you for the clarification.

 

[ultima333]

A lot of sites don't let you download outright but let you get a magnet link or download a torrent file.
That technically doesn't mean you are downloading from them.

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Please do not play the smart-ass when it concerns liability to the forum.

 

[tacobowl8]

I can only assume some people just kept going and going with doing that and kept toeing the line, jumped over it

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It was more like, I did a search for a couple of the sites on a whim, and it came back with 40 pages or results. So instead of processing all of that, we turned to a technology solution that ult implemented.

 

[Gregory Crey]

Linking download repositories like Dropbox, MegaSync, etc DOES count as linking to pirated content.

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Do you mean does not? Because that is the opposite of what ultima said, so I am confused.

If you're linking to a source of say, free open source/non-copywrited books via Mega, that's not illegal nor is Mega primarily used for hosting pirated content so that's fine.

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[ultima333]

Do you mean does not? Because that is the opposite of what ultima said, so I am confused.

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The Rule for Mega/Dropbox is if there is pirated content on the other side.


To summarize:

Bulk download sites and sites whose primary purpose is to host or facillitate pirated content: Always Bad, Do Not Link.

Services that do File Sharing such as Dropbox/Mega/Onedrive/Google Drive: Depends on what is being shared. If it's a link to open source, fine. If it's to pirated content, Bad.

 

[Gregory Crey]

The Rule for Mega/Dropbox is if there is pirated content on the other side.


To summarize:

Bulk download sites and sites whose primary purpose is to host or facillitate pirated content: Always Bad, Do Not Link.

Services that do File Sharing such as Dropbox/Mega/Onedrive/Google Drive: Depends on what is being shared. If it's a link to open source, fine. If it's to pirated content, Bad.

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Thank you!

 

[NumberSix]

Please do not play the smart-ass when it concerns liability to the forum.

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I am asking because the legal distinction has been made before where torrents are concerned.

Also, as fan works, which is a major portion of the content on those sites doujinshi can't really be copyrighted.
Original work could be, but there are also other mueky dependencies, like of the work has been licensed outside of Japan.
IIRC one artist struck a deal with some US based publishers and they struck original content they had licensed.
Sites like nhentai actually don't have them when they had them previously.

 

[guest-nobody-important]

For example, instead of the direct URL for "doujinsite.com" it would be replaced with "doujinsiite dot com"

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...huh. Don't think I've ever had to link to sites like that for an image, but to be safe/clarify: mentioning the links/location (so long at the content itself isn't pirated) like the example above is still okay to do?

edit: i.e. [site name] dot [com/net/etc]

 

[McPhoenixDavid]

I sometimes use Dropbox to upload arts, covers, memes etc. Is that allowed?

 

[ultima333]

I am asking because the legal distinction has been made before where torrents are concerned.

Also, as fan works, which is a major portion of the content on those sites doujinshi can't really be copyrighted.
Original work could be, but there are also other mueky dependencies, like of the work has been licensed outside of Japan.
IIRC one artist struck a deal with some US based publishers and they struck original content they had licensed.
Sites like nhentai actually don't have them when they had them previously.

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QQ does not have an army of lawyers to argue about the distinction of where exactly data is hosted and who has ownership over doujin works and fan works, nor do we want to deal with the related snafus.

We aren't here to listen to arguments about technicalities.

 

[CosmicBigfoot]

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I think the average user of QQ should be internet savvy enough to find most content even with zero links, so the fact that people can still give name drops and say what site they pulled it from doesn't really make this update that big of a deal. If you ask someone for the sauce and they just say "332281 nhentai" that alone should be enough for 9/10 users. If someone still needs to be dripfed even after that then just do a full name drop and say "Natsu no Senpai no Oshiri on Nhentai". If they STILL need to be dripfed then... oh well! Not all sea turtles make it to the ocean. Not all gooners make it to the strip club.

I sometimes use Dropbox to upload arts, covers, memes etc. Is that allowed?

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From the way it's worded it only matters if the site's primary usage is sharing pirated media. Exhentai no. Nhnetai probably no. Mega or dropbox are storage sites, so they're fine. Danbooru and imgur are image hosting site, so they're fine.

 

[ultima333]

...huh. Don't think I've ever had to link to sites like that for an image, but to be safe/clarify: mentioning the links/location (so long at the content itself isn't pirated) like the example above is still okay to do?

edit: i.e. [site name] dot [com/net/etc]

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Yes, that is allowed.
Same with saying say, the title of a work and that it's on nhentai or whatnot. Just don't post direct links. That's been the status quo, the new replacements/filter is to help with that because a lot of things have slipped through cracks and went unreported.

I sometimes use Dropbox to upload arts, covers, memes etc. Is that allowed?

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Are you posting links to Dropbox folders with pirated content like games/movies/doujins/songs? If not, its fine.

 

[NHO]

Ain't that fresh Sony vs Cox US Supreme Court thing kinda absolves you from a lot of responsibility?

 

[guest-nobody-important]

Yes, that is allowed.
Same with saying say, the title of a work and that it's on nhentai or whatnot. Just don't post direct links. That's been the status quo, the new replacements/filter is to help with that because a lot of things have slipped through cracks and went unreported.

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Thank you for the clarification!

 

[McPhoenixDavid]

Are you posting links to Dropbox folders with pirated content like games/movies/doujins/songs? If not, its fine.

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It's stuff related to my stories: mostly my own arts or fanarts, memes. Besides, that sounds too much work.

Thanks for the clarification!

I have no idea what doujin is... (Never bothered nor felt intrigued enough to think about it)...

 

[guest-nobody-important]

I have no idea what doujin is...

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Basically instead of using a publishing company its the artist themselves paying to have their works printed and shipped to be sold.

 

[Avernus]

If you ask someone for the sauce and they just say "332281 nhentai" that alone should be enough for 9/10 users.

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If you said that to me my reaction would be "Bhwah?!"

At any rate the link being broken as described doesn't seem like it would result in much of a hardship to search for the original anyway.

Ain't that fresh Sony vs Cox US Supreme Court thing kinda absolves you from a lot of responsibility?

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As said, they don't want to (and can't anyway) pay for a legion of lawyers to deal with the problem. The actual legality barely matters.

 

[ZeroK and Angel]

Guys, not to be that girl here, but why are we trying to rules lawyer this? The site isn't jumping on people for mentioning the high seas like some places do, it's not being unreasonable in any way about this. All of us here, I assume, like the site and want it to keep going, just don't give links. If the people you are talking to are not clever enough to do a basic search for a place or item in question, why should the site eat the responsibility that giving direct links opens them to?
If some place flags dangerous, just tell people 'blank name without a link is sus, don't go there' or if you want to mention something just say 'I read blank it was great' and keep the place without the crap we could open it to beyond that. People can live without being able to navigate all their dopamine needs with just a thumb on this site at least.

 

[iamnuff]

I have no idea what doujin is... (Never bothered nor felt intrigued enough to think about it)...

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Porno manga, basically.

 

[CosmicBigfoot]

I have no idea what doujin is

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Basically instead of using a publishing company its the artist themselves paying to have their works printed and shipped to be sold.

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I still think it's funny that Garth Ennis devoted his entire life to being a capeshit hater because he was convinced DC and Marvel infantized the entire graphic novel industry when all he had to do to have a life changing revelation was get on a plane and walk around a strip mall in Japan for a week like Jamiroquai did.

Guys, not to be that girl here, but why are we trying to rules lawyer this? The site isn't jumping on people for mentioning the high seas like some places do, it's not being unreasonable in any way about this.

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That's basically my take on this as well. From the sound of things the new rule just boils down to "you can do just about everything except directly post and link to pirated content". This isn't really a change that demands elite ball knowledge to adapt to.

 

[Avernus]

Guys, not to be that girl here, but why are we trying to rules lawyer this?

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People reflexively tend to try to rules lawyer rules they don't like. And while nobody seems to be passionately against it, nobody seems to rate this rule any higher than "I don't like it but understand why it's needed" either.

So people are idly poking at it.

 

[8BallDuck]

oh well! Not all sea turtles make it to the ocean. Not all gooners make it to the strip club.

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Can I sig this?