Why YouTube Issues Are So Very Important
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/001096.html
I view YouTube issues as a kind of proxy for the kinds of issues the
broader Net increasingly faces in the technical, policy, and political
arenas. Full disclosure: YouTube is certainly one of my top favorite
sites on the Net. So I have a vested interest in trying to help it
stay healthy and prosperous.
Given that YT is currently ranked the second most popular site on the
Web (after Google itself -- so Google effectively holds both the #1
and #2 slots) its particular mix of services presents some fascinating
challenges.
Many of these are obvious at least in their outlines. Massive amounts
of storage space for all that video. Tremendous amounts of bandwidth
necessary to distribute the video. The complicated nature of YouTube's
interactions with ISPs, the intricacies of content delivery networks,
and so on. And it's impossible to consider peering disputes, ISP
bandwidth caps, and an array of other fundamental Internet concerns
without considering their interplay with and implications for YouTube.
To be sure, many of these matters also apply to any other large-scale
video oriented Net services, such as Netflix.
But where YouTube in particular diverges from Netflix is in YT's deep
commitment to *user uploaded* videos, and it's that aspect that brings
into play perhaps the most complex, and certainly the most
controversial issues.
Virtually every day, my inbox receives queries related to YouTube. The
lion's share of these are from persons who feel that YT has wronged
them in some way. Perhaps they're concerned about a video of them that
someone else posted. Or a video they posted that was tagged,
demonetized, and/or removed via a Content ID hit or copyright
strike -- or that their account was forcibly closed entirely.
Sometimes their concerns are valid, more often they're not. I know one
classical music pianist who has been through the YT wringer with many
repeated false positive YT problems related to his self-played works
(classical music, and public domain materials in general, present
rather fascinating technical challenges to abuse detection, especially
at Google/YT scale).
But while it's easy to throw around the hyperbole about the DMCA's
"guilty until proven innocent" model (which, obviously, Google/YT must
abide by -- keeping in mind that the DMCA in key respects has made YT
possible at all), and the definitely improving but still somewhat
opaque nature of the YT appeals process, the reality is that
systematic, intentional abuse of YT by bad players is very real.
How bad is it? Just for jollies, toss this URL into your browser when
you have a few minutes to spare:
https://www.youtube.com/results?lclk=hour&search*query=full+movie&filters=hour
This will display the uploads with *full movie* in their title over
the last hour. Skip the ads at the top and explore the organic
listings. I'll bet you find that every single one is a "come on"
spam -- the movie isn't actually there at all, they're rather trying to get
you to click through to another site (the specific ways they do this
will vary -- don't even get me started about the obnoxious and
notorious "girl in red").
Most of these spam videos seem to be from a relatively small set of
uploaders, despite the vast number of throwaway accounts they're
creating. Interestingly, they appear to target not only current
release films, but often old classics as well.
An hour doesn't seem like too long for these to be around, but many
persist for weeks and much longer -- and many of those add insult to
injury by monetizing the spam video with ads! That's right, the spam
uploader crooks are attempting to steal money with content to which
*they have no rights at all*.
This also applies to the content uploaders who aren't spamming, but
"merely" monetizing other parties' content, like many years' worth of
classic television programs. Keep in mind that these aren't people
making available long lost programs based on some radical "all
information should be free!" philosophy. Since they're monetizing
these uploads they're just simple crooks, trying to make money off
someone else's work. This really disturbs me. It's the kind of abuse
that is damaging to the broader YouTube and Internet video ecosystem
in very significant ways, and provides ammunition to forces who push
for draconian legislation that would make the DMCA look like a walk in
the park by comparison.
Google works diligently to kill this crud, but at scale -- especially
considering the desire to minimize false positives as much as
possible -- it's a real game of Whac-A-Mole. The evasion techniques in
use are certainly imaginative: Static inset box videos, moving inset boxes,
mirror images, translucent backgrounds, and much more. Not only are
these crooks stealing content, they're presenting it in horrendously
substandard ways as well.
I think it's important that YT users at large understand that this
sort of monetized abuse is not at all benign, and makes everything
harder for Google/YT and honest users of the ecosystem. I always urge
users to report these spams and monetized ripoffs when they find them.
(Sidenote: Many users don't realize they *can* report them. The
reporting link is currently hidden under the YT player UI "More" link.
While one doesn't want to encourage frivolous reporting, having the
reporting/flagging function being more visible in the interface
strikes me as a proposition worth considering).
And perhaps most importantly of all, we have the entire array of free
speech, government censorship, and related issues that focus on the
ability of ordinary users to upload materials that might reveal
horrific police abuse -- or attempt to ruin an innocent person's
reputation. And everything in-between. We have governments attempting
to takedown (or block) videos that they consider sacrilegious or
simply politically *inconvenient*. The complex dilemmas related to
Terms of Service and appropriate content rules -- issues of adult
materials, horrific materials, hate speech, viewers who are children,
religious intolerance, racism, on and on. How to set these standards,
how to evaluate them, the gray areas, evaluations, and the emotional
realities and emotional costs of balancing such complicated concerns
and interests -- I won't even try to scratch the surface of those
issues right now.
So again and again, we see that YouTube issues are a representation of
the broader issues facing not only the Internet, but the entire global
community as well.
That makes them important. Seriously important.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein ([email protected]): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://google.com/+LaurenWeinstein
Twitter: http://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
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