#Mangione takedown

[johniac]

Attention-Worthy Links for December 23rd, 2024

[deposedefenddeny]

An entity claiming to be United Healthcare is sending bogus copyright claims to internet platforms to get Luigi Mangione fan art taken off the internet, according to the print-on-demand merch retailer TeePublic. An independent journalist was hit with a copyright takedown demand over an image of Luigi Mangione and his family she posted on Bluesky, and other DMCA takedown requests posted to an open database and viewed by 404 Media show copyright claims trying to get “Deny, Defend, Depose” and Luigi Mangione-related merch taken off the internet, though it is unclear who is filing them.

404 Media on Dec 19, 11:24 a.m. ET

[possiblyunhinged]

In the past year, especially with the recent elections across Europe and in the US, it’s become blazingly clear that regardless of your political leanings, everyone is fucking fed up to the nines. You can see it in our attitudes towards traditional media and government. Sure, we land on different conclusions about what might get us out of this mess, but the reality is—it’s not in our hands. It probably never has been.

The Luigi Mangione situation has truly blown my head off my shoulders—the sheer arrogance and disconnect from normal people that traditional media and government officials have shown. Take the Mayor of New York, for instance. Sweet Jesus. He’s like a character from a shit pantomime. Whether you’re on the left or the right, he’s the villain of the piece. People are done. And let’s be real, it’s only going to get worse—because I’m a positive princess like that.

Trump isn’t going to magically make prices drop; he’s literally said as much. I can’t fathom a single politician who could genuinely make a difference when the CEOs already hold all the power. Musk and his ilk were invited to the table long ago, and let’s not forget the donors—pouring huge amounts of money into all political parties. It’s a silent agreement: their influence comes first, their profits are prioritised, and the rest of us are left to scrape by.

What gets me is how people still talk about “the rich” like it’s actors and musicians pulling the strings. Sure, they’re rolling in it, and the entertainment industry has plenty of rot, but compared to the wealth of CEOs? Negligible. The real bastards are the ones we couldn’t even name. The ones cutting corners, exploiting workers, and choking the planet with plastic while pocketing the profits.

Meanwhile, the entertainment industry puts on this Truman Show pantomime—a performance of accountability so we can cheer and boo. Every public takedown, every cancellation, every PR scandal—it’s all theatre designed to make us believe the system works. And while we’re caught up in the spectacle, what the fuck are the people at the top of the means of production doing? Bumping up their profit margins and giving themselves bonuses.

These people live without consequences. And when the internet (rightly or wrongfully) memed the murder of a CEO, they responded with Gotham-level theatrics to reassure their donors that they’ll always protect their own. They even tried to pin terrorism charges on a man whose frustrations most normal people can empathise with.

Why is it that those in power are never arsed about creating a spectacle of a CEO in handcuffs, dragged out for decades of exploitation? Because the system doesn’t just protect them—it is them.

At this point, the only thing these people are achieving is making everyone angrier. And the politicians we like? They’re the ones who seem to reflect the nonstop screaming going on in our heads. The incompetence, the lack of solutions, the sheer disregard for normal lives—it’s all making tensions worse. And it’s going to blow up in their faces. (Not literally—calm down, loves.)

I know I sound like David Icke, okay? But sincerely, I’m fed up and I would love nothing more than a shred of accountability for billionaires—and for politicians and journalists alike to do their fucking jobs.

It’s embarrassing.

[monetizeme]

An entity claiming to be United Healthcare is sending bogus copyright claims to internet platforms to get Luigi Mangione fan art taken off the internet, according to the print-on-demand merch retailer TeePublic. An independent journalist was hit with a copyright takedown demand over an image of Luigi Mangione and his family she posted on Bluesky, and other DMCA takedown requests posted to an open database and viewed by 404 Media show copyright claims trying to get “Deny, Defend, Depose” and Luigi Mangione-related merch taken off the internet, though it is unclear who is filing them.

[mitchipedia]

It’s doubtful United Healthcare is abusing the DMCA to takedown Luigi Mangione apparel, but someone is

[comrademango]

Source

Titled “Writings of Alleged Perpetrator of UnitedHealthcare CEO Shooting Reveal Grievances Against Health Insurance Company, Disdain for Corporate Greed,” the intelligence report reads: 

Based on a review of the hand-written claim of responsibility and social media presence of Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the UnitedHealthcare (UHC) CEO shooting, the NYPD Intelligence & Counterterrorism Bureau (ICB) assesses that the alleged perpetrator was likely driven to violence on the basis of grievances against what he perceives as a "parasitic" health insurance company and industry as a whole, as well as broader objections to corporate greed and a concern for modern society. He appeared to view the targeted killing of the company’s highest-ranking representative as a symbolic takedown and a direct challenge to its alleged corruption and "power games,” asserting in his note he is the “first to face it with such brutal honesty.” Mangione may have found inspiration in Ted Kaczynski — the violent, anti-technology extremist known as the Unabomber — echoing in his note and reflecting in his targeting a similar mindset of the need for unilateral action to bring attention to abusive corporate actions. Based on observed initial online reactions to the shooting, including celebrations of the killing of a health insurance executive and encouragement of targeting leaders across industries, there is a risk that a wide range of extremists may view Mangione as a martyr and an example to follow.

Within the three-page handwritten claim of responsibility on his person, Mangione wrote, “Frankly these parasites simply had it coming." presumably referring to the UHC CEO and/or similar executives. He lamented that the US has the "most expensive healthcare system in the world" yet "ranks #42 in life expectancy," noting that the profits of major corporations continue to rise while "our life expectancy" does not. He declared that these "mafiosa have gotten too powerful” and "continue to abuse our country for immense profit." He stated that, while many have “illuminated” this “corruption and greed decades ago," the issues persist. In a statement signifying that he likely views himself as a hero of sorts who has finally decided to act upon such injustices, he noted, “Evidently I am the first to face it with such brutal honesty.”

[surajworldnews]

Takedown Notices Hit Luigi Mangione Merchandise and Photos - Including DMCAs

Newsweek supplies some context After his arrest, merch — including T-shirts featuring Mangione’s booking photos and others taken from his social media accounts — began popping up for sale on several sites. Websites, including Amazon, eBay and Etsy, have moved to take down products that glorify violence or the suspect. An eBay spokesperson told Newsweek that “items that glorify or incite violence,…

[streamingfanatic1963]

Exclusive | Luigi Mangione viewed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killing as ‘symbolic takedown’ of ‘parasitic’ healthcare industry: sources

[deposedefenddeny]

Police say Luigi Mangione saw himself as a hero fighting corruption per his manifesto

The suspect in the killing of the United Healthcare chief executive saw himself as a hero fighting a corrupt health insurance industry, the police said in an internal report in which they also warned about the possible threat posed by social media posts that praised the killing and encouraged similar targeted violence. The internal report, obtained by The New York Times on Tuesday, described parts of the three-page manifesto found with the suspect at the time of his arrest Monday in Pennsylvania. It said the 26-year-old suspect, Luigi Mangione, saw himself as fighting a “parasitic” health insurance industry. The internal police report said that Mr. Mangione “appeared to view the targeted killing of the company’s highest-ranking representative as a symbolic takedown and a direct challenge to its alleged corruption and ‘power games,’ and that he “views himself as a hero of sorts who has finally decided to act upon such injustices.” “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming,” the manifesto said, according to the report. Police officials also expressed concern that the attack could inspire violence against similar executives or other extreme behavior, noting that members of the public had celebrated the shooting online and might have seen the suspect as “a martyr and an example to follow.”

The New York Times on Dec 10, 2:57 p.m. ET

[streamingfanatic1963]

Exclusive | Luigi Mangione viewed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killing as ‘symbolic takedown’ of ‘parasitic’ healthcare industry: sources

[deposedefenddeny]

I doubt that UHC would have actually filed anything here, even if they don’t like the fact that a very large group of people appear to be supportive of Mangione. UHC have enough lawyers who understand IP law to know that this would be a totally bogus request. Of course there are many cases of companies sending such bogus requests, but those typically involve media operations or other IP-based companies, where unrelated content gets swept up by indiscriminate waves of takedowns (often through a third-party brand monitoring service). It seems similarly unlikely that UHC operates that kind of large DMCA takedown regime. Also, TeePublic is misrepresenting the DMCA when it says it has no say in what stays on the site, or that it is “required” to remove the content. That’s simply false. The law does not require it, though it does create strong incentives for removal, by offering up a liability safe harbor for those that do remove. But companies are free to reject takedown notices if they don’t believe they are legit. It’s just that they might have to later defend that decision in court. For what it’s worth, Teepublic is owned by RedBubble, and RedBubble has been taken to court many times over bogus claims of infringement. Indeed, I was an expert witness for them in past cases, so I know that the company has lawyers on staff who know full well that they can push back against bogus takedown claims. But also, I recognize that having fought out some expensive cases in court, they may take a much more “just pull it down so we don’t have to pay more lawyers” approach. Going through the Lumen Database for takedowns using the Luigi Mangione name, I see that there are a bunch. Though, many of them seem to be people who made other stylized designs of Mangione and are mad that others have put them on t-shirts and hoodies. Whether or not UHC is actually abusing copyright law this way, it’s clear that someone out there is, and that’s a very problematic feature of copyright law. The assumption that anything listed in a takedown notice is infringing, and the corresponding heavy-handed pressure to remove the content or face huge potential penalties, again reminds us why the DMCA is very questionable on First Amendment grounds.

Mike Masnick for Techdirt on Dec 27, 1:04 p.m. ET

An entity claiming to be United Healthcare is sending bogus copyright claims to internet platforms to get Luigi Mangione fan art taken off the internet, according to the print-on-demand merch retailer TeePublic. An independent journalist was hit with a copyright takedown demand over an image of Luigi Mangione and his family she posted on Bluesky, and other DMCA takedown requests posted to an open database and viewed by 404 Media show copyright claims trying to get “Deny, Defend, Depose” and Luigi Mangione-related merch taken off the internet, though it is unclear who is filing them.

404 Media on Dec 19, 11:24 a.m. ET