To get the page backup, I have to swear under penalty of perjury that I think the takedown was a mistake (yet the sender of a takedown does not have to swear that they think the takedown is valid!), consent to a lawsuit if the sender disagrees, and wait two weeks. Two weeks!

In short, the DMCA lets you get any page taken off the Internet for two weeks. This isn’t just a law itching for abuse; it’s a law being abused.

The problem, which isn't limited to the DMCA, is that our justice system is not blind to wealth. If you are wealthy, its not expensive to send out C&D notices such as DMCA "takedowns." In fact, you can make legal threats of every sort and variety, no matter how unreasonable, essentially without consequence, as long as the people you are threatening are not wealthy. Most people who live in our society do not have the means to defend themselves against legal claims in our justice system, no matter how unreasonable or illogical or downright fraudulent those claims might be. The consequence is that wealth makes right - always - unless you're lucky enough that some public interest law firm takes an intellectual interest in the case.

There ought to be financial consequences associated with fraudulent legal threats. Its the only thing that I can see that would balance the scales. Its not about recovering the money wasted complying with a fraudulent claim - its about ensuring that people don't file fraudulent claims in the first place.

Is the DMCA a scam?