I think Pournelle cuts SFWA way, way too much slack over their lame DMCA takedown methodology. It's one thing to properly complain about infringing use; it's another thing entirely to run a keyword matcher and decide that any hits imply infringing material - which is what these guys seem to have done. From Ars Technica:

What appears to have happened is that the group ran a Scribd search for certain author names and then issued takedown notices for all the results - Doctorow's book makes a reference to Isaac Asimov, for instance, and Senger's reading list is populated with the names of great sci-fi authors. This, it hardly needs to be said, is a less than foolproof way to police copyrights.

This kind of bozo methodology would have my blog infringing based on a variety of book reviews I've posted, since I typically mention the author's name.

I understand where Pournelle is coming from - he wants his copyrights honored, and that's as it should be. What shouldn't be excused is the collateral damage from a really stupid way of trying to protect authors like Pournelle. According to Ars technica, bogus takedown notices can be actionable, so it may well go beyond stupid.

Technorati Tags: law, stupidity