[conspire] (forw) [DNG] [OT] YouTube archivism targeted

[Rick Moen]

youtube-dl is a really cool, open source Python script for pulling down
A/V content to local files from _not_ just YouTube but also dozens of
other sites that host video and audio clips.  It's an essential tool 
that I use frequently, and is now reported to be under legal threat by
Recording Industry Association of America, the record industry cartel.

In response to RIAA's infringement notice, Microsoft/GitHub immediately 
disabled all access to the youtube-dl development repo.  (This is one of
many reasons why nobody should have _ever_ put primary reliance on
GitHub for essential data.)

I see that LWN.net hasn't yet covered this.

I hope and expect that multiple people will advertise diversely located
git checkouts of the youtube-dl development tree, pro bono publico.
Please advise if y'all hear of any.

Let this also serve as a warning:  If you see that _any_ open source
project advertises only a single location for its source code repo --
and sadly, this error is almost universal -- spread the tip that this is
a terrible idea, worth correcting.


----- Forwarded message from spiralofhope <spiralofhope at spiralofhope.com> -----

Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2020 11:47:25 -0700
From: spiralofhope <spiralofhope at spiralofhope.com>
To: dng <dng at lists.dyne.org>
Subject: [DNG] [OT] YouTube archivism targeted

TL;DR:  YouTube-dl DMCA


----


The RIAA successfully applied a DMCA takedown to GitHub (Microsoft) for
an archivism program which downloads YouTube video/audio (although it
does target other services).

https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/
https://github.com/github/dmca/blob/master/2020/10/2020-10-23-RIAA.md

I expect that YouTube will obfuscate the way it delivers content so
as to make the existing youtube-dl release (and other similar software)
nonfunctional (perhaps only for a time).

Curiously there was recently a bit of drama and then a fork (also
DMCA'd) over the problem of urgent youtube-dl pull requests being left
unreviewed.  I have no proof for this instance, but I've always
maintained that controlled forks, or for a few thousand dollars the
right developers, could be made to drag their feet and damage FOSS
alternatives / etc; it might be cheaper than lawyers, FUD, lobbyists
etc.

The developer(s) are alive and its website still has a download, but
they're a hair away from being targeted more directly.

https://youtube-dl.org/

Sure there have been "protest forks" already, but that alone doesn't
mean anything unless efforts centre around one in particular.

Where other people will be focused on the code, I'm concerned about the
documentation.  All of the wikis, pull requests, inline code-comments,
issues and their conversation have been purged.

(Not many people even think to clone a project's separate GitHub wiki
repository.)

But back to YouTube itself.  The inability to download videos will
have an impact in that "inconvenient" videos can't so easily be kept,
fair-use commentated-upon, and (re-)uploaded.  Everyday people wouldn't
be able to signal boost or contribute to a Streisand effect, making
videos (and people) easier to memoryhole.


GitHub is obviously untrustworthy for mirrors/forks.  These are likely
to stay up longer:

https://source.netsyms.com/Mirrors/l1ving_youtube-dl
https://git.datahoarder.dev/whalehub/l1ving_youtube-dl
https://gitea.datahoarding.agency/ZenulAbidin/youtube-dl
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