YouTube Won't be Affected by Google's Fight Against Piracy
YouTube's own reporting system helps it slip by Google's system unnoticed.
Google on Friday revealed a new system for fighting piracy on the web. Amit Singhal, Google's SVP of Engineering, said that starting this week, the company would implement an update in the search algorithms that will place sites related to piracy lower on the list. The demotion will be based on the number of valid copyright removal notices (DMCA) Google receives for any given website, and aims to help Web surfers find legitimate, quality sources of content more easily, pushing Spotify, Hulu and others to the top. However, it seems Google's own video site, YouTube, has no risk of falling in the rankings.
Search Engine Land reports that since Google's system for filing copyright removal notices is different, Youtube (which no doubt receives numerous take-down notices each day) won't be affected by the new policy. The issue lies with the fact that YouTube has its own Copyright Center complete with a Copyright Infringement Notification button for copyright owners. There's also a Content Verification Program and Content ID button for submitting multiple copyright notifications and verifying content. Filing a copyright infringement claim in this way lets Google know about the infringement without actually sending a DMCA notice.
SEL's Danny Sullivan writes that if copyright owners do decide to go the takedown route and get a video removed, the YouTube page hosting the video itself remains up and also remains potentially listed in Google. If the search giant had a common DMCA takedown system, YouTube would be affected by the new demoting system. However, because it has its own tools for having videos removed, it won't ever find itself on Google's list of publishers with the most takedown notices.
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The DMCA takedown filings really are just accusations against theft - they do not need to be substantiated with large amounts of evidence (and can sometimes work against the owners, as demonstrated in the Jay Leno + NBC debacle). In this case, specific sites could very easily be targeted with DMCA notices, and Google will downrank the site in search results simply because the site has a large number of filed notices, regardless of their validity.
Rarely are measures like this implemented for the benefit of all. Google was originally a large backer of the net neutrality agreements, and this is a very visible step backward on their position.
The DMCA takedown filings really are just accusations against theft - they do not need to be substantiated with large amounts of evidence (and can sometimes work against the owners, as demonstrated in the Jay Leno + NBC debacle). In this case, specific sites could very easily be targeted with DMCA notices, and Google will downrank the site in search results simply because the site has a large number of filed notices, regardless of their validity.
Rarely are measures like this implemented for the benefit of all. Google was originally a large backer of the net neutrality agreements, and this is a very visible step backward on their position.
Like a Computer retailer may carry HP, Compaq and Acer, but not Apple for instance.
As a consumer you do not have the right to demand they carry EVERYTHING so YOU can decide what you like.
Your Evening news and Sports casters do the same. They Show Baseball and Football results, but no soccer. They show the murder of a white woman (10 minute in detail, but the killing of the black guy gets only 1 minute air time.
In the same way Google provides a Service; Search Results. And as the creator and provider of this service they have the right to decide what they present and how they go about it.
As the internet is free... and google is a private but free service (or ad-based), they can do whatever they want.
And you are free, to choose a different search engine that provides you with the results you want.
There fixed it for you... even a corp automaton is expected to least know the laws is above the corporations and that the corps aren't allowed to do whatever they like.
Besides, at least google/youtube take an active role in removing flagged items for copyright-infringement. It's not as if youtube is a "piracy" service site, such as TPB and similar pages. People can post copyright-infringing things to YT, but the explicit reason for YT's existence isn't to facilitate the distribution of copyright-infringing material as an alternative to buying it on a mass scale.
The "spirit" of the site matters just as much as what content it has. And don't give me this BS about how TPB/torrentfreak/etc. host "legit" content--we all know the spirit of those sites isn't to support the mass-distribution of legit materials.
tl;dr, it's google's service, they can do with it what they wish, and you don't need to use it if you don't like it.
Yes, the best option is to support a different search engine. Consumer power. That doesn't mean people can't still be bothered by it and express those opinions.
I don't think this issue is that simple though. This isn't the first time Google has been accused of tampering with the search results in their own favor. The local news can choose which sports to cover, but they can't report that every restaurant in town other than the one owned by the news company will give you a disease. This is favoritism that they stand to profit from. People think of Youtube as a free media source, but don't forget Google has pay movies now, official releases. They don't want you to go to Youtube to find pirated shows, they want you to BUY them.
Google isn't the old friend with freebies anymore, that's just a front now. This is going to bite them in the end.
To be fair, Youtube has significantly more built-in features to combat copyright infringement than virtually any other content-hosting service, and google/youtube play a very active role in removing infringing material. In the spirit of what this filtering hopes to accomplish, I see less wrong with youtube being exempt.
I wonder if their algorithm takes into account the take-down notice vs. total media files hosted--because that should matter (at least, in my eyes it should).
Voila like the bag dinner you get at the store!
HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!...it's already affected, for a long time.
God, I haven't laughed that hard in a while...
You can edit messages in tomshardware.com articles. You click the "See the comments on the forums" link that is between the comments and the article and you can edit your comments from there.
They can do what they want with their service, but I can voice my opinion of changes made to a service that I use (heck, I don't need to use it to be able to voice opinions about it so long as I'm familiar with it enough to be accurate). A similar example is that although a government may have the right to choose if a criminal should get the death sentence, the people of that government's country have every right to voice their opinion about that even if they have no right to put a stop to it themselves.
I say a double standard is needed, as this comes off as "why pirate a movie when you can watch it on youtube for free and make us some money?".
I had a buddy watching the WHOLE new spider man movie on youtube last night. (odds are it's gone now)
I swear, recently youtube has received an influx of copyright/takedown requests. As some of the normal ch.s I watch have had to make a new ch. since they have gotten "fake" copyright strikes on their old account....