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Title: Proctorio Settles Curious Lawsuit With Librarian Who Shared Public
YouTube Videos

Link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/11/20/00292...

Canadian librarian Ian Linkletter has ended a five-year legal battle with ed-
tech firm Proctorio after being sued for sharing public YouTube help videos
that exposed how the company's remote-proctoring AI works. Ars Technica
reports: ... Together, the videos, the help center screenshot, and another
screenshot showing course material describing how Proctorio works were enough
for Proctorio to take Linkletter to court. The ed tech company promptly filed
a lawsuit and obtained a temporary injunction by spuriously claiming that
Linkletter shared private YouTube videos containing confidential information.
Because the YouTube videos -- which were public but "unlisted" when
Linkletter shared them -- had been removed, Linkletter did not have to delete
the seven tweets that initially caught Proctorio's attention, but the
injunction required that he remove two tweets, including the screenshots. In
the five years since, the legal fight dragged on, with no end in sight until
last week, as Canadian courts tangled with copyright allegations that tested
a recently passed law intended to shield Canadian rights to free expression,
the Protection of Public Participation Act. To fund his defense, Linkletter
said in a blog announcing the settlement that he invested his life savings
"ten times over." Additionally, about 900 GoFundMe supporters and thousands
of members of the Association of Administrative and Professional Staff at UBC
contributed tens of thousands more. For the last year of the battle, a law
firm, Norton Rose Fulbright, agreed to represent him on a pro bono basis,
which Linkletter said �oewas a huge relief to me, as it meant I could defend
myself all the way if Proctorio chose to proceed with the litigation." The
terms of the settlement remain confidential, but both Linkletter and
Proctorio confirmed that no money was exchanged. For Proctorio, the
settlement made permanent the injunction that restricted Linkletter from
posting the company's help center or instructional materials. But it doesn't
stop Linkletter from remaining the company's biggest critic, as "there are no
other restrictions on my freedom of expression," Linkletter's blog noted.
"I've won my life back!" Linkletter wrote, while reassuring his supporters
that he's "fine" with how things ended. "It doesn't take much imagination to
understand why Proctorio is a nightmare for students," Linkletter wrote. "I
can say everything that matters about Proctorio using public information."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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