This repository catalogs requests to remove content that HASH has received under its Government Takedown, Trademark Complaints and Copyrighted Materials policies. Our decision to create this repository was inspired by the takedown publication approach of Lumen (formerly Chilling Effects), Google, and GitHub. Within this repository you'll find the text of Government Takedown Notices, DMCA takedown notices and DMCA counter-notices we've received here at HASH in relation to HASH and the Block Protocol Hub. We publish these as they are received, with only personally identifiable information redacted.
This repository does not catalog requests we receive to remove private information and other sensitive data.
From time to time, HASH receives requests from governments to remove content that has been declared unlawful in their local jurisdiction. Although we may not always agree with those laws, we may need to block content if we receive a complete request from a government official so that our users in that jurisdiction may continue to have access to GitHub to collaborate and build software.
We are concerned about Internet censorship, and believe that transparency on a specific and ongoing level is essential to good governance. By posting the notices here, we can better inform the public about what content is being withheld from HASH, and why. We post takedown notices here to document their potential to chill speech.
It means that we received the notice on the indicated date. It does not mean that the content was unlawful or wrong. It does not mean that the user identified in the notice has done anything wrong. We don't make or imply any judgment about the merit of the claims they make. We post these notices and requests only for informational purposes.
You can learn more by reading our Government Takedown Policy on the HASH website.
HASH's Trademark Complaints Policy is designed to protect organizations' names, logos and other trademark-protected materials from being used in a manner that may mislead or confuse others with regard to its brand or business affiliation. Using company names, logos or other trademark-protected material to which you do not have appropriate rights may be considered a violation of this policy. By posting sharing notices of claims here, we hope to simultaneously discourage and shame those filing spurious claims, while making users aware of potential trademark misappropriation on our platform.
It only means that we received the notice on the indicated date. It does not mean that the trademark was in fact infringed. Nor does it mean that the user identified in the notice has done anything wrong. We don't make or imply any judgment about the merit of the claims made in a trademark notice, and we post these notices and requests for informational purposes only.
You can learn more by reading our Trademark Complaints Policy on the HASH website.
In short, we believe that transparency on a specific and ongoing basis is essential to good governance. Chilling Effects explained it well in 2014 (no longer available online): "We are excited about the new opportunities the Internet offers individuals to express their views . . . but concerned that not everyone feels the same way. Study to date suggests that cease and desist letters often silence Internet users, whether or not their claims have legal merit." (About, ChillingEffects.org, Sept. 2014, licensed under CC-BY-3.0). Similarly, we post takedown notices here to document their potential to "chill" speech.
It only means that we received the notice on the indicated date. It does not mean that the content was unlawful or wrong. It does not mean that the user identified in the notice has done anything wrong. We don't make or imply any judgment about the merit of the claims they make. We post these notices and requests only for informational purposes.
- To learn more about our approach to handling copyrighted materials, see our Copyrighted Materials Policy.
- If you would like to submit a DMCA notice, see our page on submitting a DMCA notice.
- If you have received a notice you feel is inaccurate or invalid, see submitting a DMCA counter-notice.
We do not accept Pull Requests in this repository because the notices we post are verbatim copies of those received. Feel free to comment or make suggestions, but note that we do not actively monitor contributions to this repository. If you would like to contact HASH about this repository, please do so via the website.