HTTP: a new error for legal reason code

With the resurgence of closures of websites, a Canadian by the name of Tim Bray offers the IETF to add an error code bearing the number 451 to tell visitors that the page is not available for legal reasons.

Closures of websites are more and more numerous because of a blow of net of the police or of the legislative authorities following a complaint or seizure as this was the case for MegaUpload and its affiliated sites.

Starting from this observation, a Canadian named Tim Bray, proposed to add an error code in the HTTP protocol. For the record, when a browser wants to access a Web site by using the HTTP protocol, by typing for example "http://www.pcworld.fr", the first four characters indicate to the browser the communication protocol to use with the server that hosts the desired pages. In the case of a non-existent page, an error will be sent by the server to indicate to the browser that the requested page is not available. This error is numbered 404 more commonly referred to as the 404 error. Other error codes can be used to cover all possible cases.

Here, via a first document submitted to the IETF working group for Internet standardization, the le canadien Canadian proposes to add the code 451 which would the literal "unavailable for legal reasons" meaning. As noted this document made available to the public, it is stated that it would be possible to take the code 403 meaning "Forbidden" for this type of case, but this does not fully match the situation. On the other hand, the document stipulates that the authorities would not have obligation to implement this code error during a seizure or the closure of a site.

H - Online breath us that this code 451 seems inspired by the book by Ray Bradbury "Fahrenheit 451", which would then allow Web users to have a little more transparency on the part of the authorities in Internet site closure. Hope that latter abound its use, even if as said it, this code is still optional...

Legal MegaUpload files can be recovered...

... under condition that the judge is in agreement and that the files in question are not subject to the rights of intellectual property according to the criteria of the MPAA.

On 19 January, the FBI closes the image hosting MegaUpload servers. Thousands of users found themselves taken hostage by the American authorities as being more able to retrieve their files deposited in the claimant.

Since a few months, the complaints of users increases, the other the technical provider that holds MegaUpload servers found with petabytes of data without being able to remove them because they are still under seal by the American authorities with a daily cost of $ 9,000 dependants for the moment.

But coup de theatre, the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) which is part of the complainants in the trial of MegaUpload decides to respond to users adversely affected in the case. A simple letter But it is not, because the MPAA wants to release the lawful user files "If the Court allows such a measure, precautions must be taken to ensure that no copy of content copyrighted on MegaUpload servers be made available to the all."

Need then to develop a fine comb to move to screen all the files stored to free one by one each file considered lawful by the MPAA and and return them to the bucket account. Something that millions of users will appreciate, although you will have to wait long before the situation becomes really unchoked.