![\"reddit\"](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/reddit-logo-1.jpg\"){kind=logo}
Reddit is without doubt one of the most popular user-submitted content sites that exists on the Internet.<\/p>\nReddit is without doubt one of the most popular user-submitted content sites that exists on the Internet.<\/p>\n
The community-driven platform has \u201csubreddits\u201d dedicated to pretty much every topic you can think of. These generate a constant stream of discussions and links, some more useful than others.<\/p>\n
Moderators play an essential role in bringing order to this chaos. They delete spam, remove off-topic content, and make sure that \u2018unauthorized\u2019 content is swiftly removed. The latter category includes links to copyright infringing material. <\/p>\n
Despite these moderation efforts, problematic links can remain online longer than rightsholders wish. This can lead to Reddit receiving DMCA takedown notices, which over the course of the last year led to the removal of 920,672 pieces of content from the platform. Subreddits that are repeatedly targeted in takedown notices risk a permanent ban. <\/p>\n
Yesterday, the popular \/r\/PiratedGames was banned<\/a> for this very reason, with Reddit stating that the community was targeted by too many copyright removals. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n The decision may seem logical considering the name of the subreddit but posting infringing links to \/r\/PiratedGames was strictly forbidden. Instead, users were asked to keep their contributions limited to discussing pirated games and cracks.<\/p>\n With more than 300,000 members, it isn\u2019t always easy to spot all problematic content. Keeping an eye on submitted posts isn\u2019t that hard but user comments are the real problem as these are harder to keep up with.<\/p>\n TorrentFreak spoke to PiratedGames moderator GrowAsguard who said that the team wasn\u2019t warned about the ban in advance. In fact, he says that Reddit never informed them about any of the takedown notices. The ban just appeared out of the blue.<\/p>\n \u201cNone of us in the moderator team were informed of either the then-upcoming ban or the various pieces of content Reddit had removed from the sub due to copyright Infringement,\u201d GrowAsguard said. <\/p>\n The moderators did hear from Reddit when the ban was instated. They received a message in their inboxes that contained, among other things, the following statement from the admins.<\/p>\n A subreddit you moderate has been banned for excessive copyright infringement. Note that reconstituting the community under an alternative subreddit will be considered under our ban evasion policy \u2013 Reddit<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n GrowAsguard says that the moderators plan to file an appeal. If that\u2019s not successful, they will look for an alternative venue to host the community. There are no plans to start a new subreddit.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully the decision sides with us and the community. But if it does not, then we might move the subreddit to either Raddle, Saidit or Lemmy. Another sub will not be made as it will just get banned again. <\/p>\n \u201cAnonymity is important for us, so our options are limited now in terms of moving the community forward,\u201d GrowAsguard added.<\/p>\n PiratedGames is one of the largest communities to find itself banned by Reddit but it\u2019s not the only one<\/a>. Last year, 2,625 subreddits<\/a> were taken down permanently under the platform\u2019s \u201crepeat infringer\u201d policy<\/a>. This included the popular mmastreams<\/a> subreddit. In addition, 283 users were banned for repeat infringement.<\/p>\n Previously \/r\/Piracy, another popular piracy-related subreddit, did get an advance warning<\/a> from Reddit that it was on the verge of being banned. The moderators managed to avoid this fate but that required the deletion of more than 10 years of history<\/a>.<\/p>\n The PiratedGames ban is not unexpected considering Reddit\u2019s strict policy but the implementation raises questions. If moderators are not informed about DMCA notices, they may not even be aware that there\u2019s a problem. <\/p>\n Reddit is required by the DMCA to adopt and reasonably implement a policy that allows for the termination of repeat infringers. But is it \u2018reasonable\u2019 to shut down a 300,000-member community without warning?<\/p>\n It\u2019s essentially a DMCA minefield that can make it particularly hard for communities to survive, even when they have good intentions. <\/p>\n We don\u2019t know what the ban threshold is for subreddits and neither do the moderators we spoke with. We asked Reddit for more information but the company didn\u2019t immediately respond to our request. <\/p>\n For the PiratedGames community, these questions and considerations are irrelevant now, as the damage is already done.<\/p>\n From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\n![\"piratedgames\"](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/piratedgames-banned.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\nNo Advance Warning or Notice?<\/h2>\n
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Appeal<\/h2>\n
The DMCA Minefield<\/h2>\n