Angry users flood Github with Youtube-dl code

A few days ago, cWe share here on the blog the news about the elimination of the Youtube-dl code on GitHub, (the platform I used to host the source code and compiled executables), due to a complaint by the RIAA o Recording Industry Association of America (American organization responsible, among other things, for protection against audiovisual piracy).

Faced with this event, many users showed their displeasure and in a matter of hours of having the fact quickly GitHub was flooded again with new repositories that contain the source code of the tool.

Of course, downloading YouTube videos violates the general terms and conditions of use of the platform, which is financed through the advertising transmission before, during and after the videos.

But, it was because RIAA ruled that youtube-dl violated section 1201 of the US copyright law. That the association forced Github to remove all source code for the utility.

Before GitHub removed YouTube-dl repositories on Friday, they were in the top 40 GitHub repositories with more than 72.000 stars, between Node.js and Kubernetes.

It was more or less expected that this situation, that is outside the usual framework of DMCA requests, would cause a backlash from angry youtube-dl users by the Streisand effect (a media phenomenon in which the desire to avoid the disclosure of information that one would like to keep hidden triggers the opposite result).

But the number of new youtube-dl repositories that have appeared on the version control platform has exceeded most people's expectations.

By targeting the project, RIAA inadvertently exposed it to a large number of new people, as youtube-dl users and fans flocked to social media platforms and shared the story with dozens of millions of other people.

As a quick search on youtube-dl shows, GitHub now hosts hundreds of new repositories that contain the source code for YouTube video downloader or other related sources (if no search filter is used, thousands of such repositories will appear).

And is that a known bug on GitHub allowed a user to host the youtube-dl source code. In the past, other sites, such as Youtube-MP3, were closed, while others such as 2Conv and FLVto are currently active.

In addition to legal action, Google actively searches for and blocks the IP addresses of anyone who is too active on the platform, targeting bots. Thus, a game of cat and mouse was started between the American giant and those he considers vulgar pirates.

Along with the large number of new youtube-dl repositories that have appeared since October 23rd, a copy of the youtube-dl source code has also been added to an official GitHub repository used for hosting that has received removal notices. of DMCA.

The user who integrated the source code used a bug that allowed anyone to attach commits to repositories they don't control, according to safety engineer Lance R. Vick. Vick said in a tweet that this is a known issue, previously reported to GitHub, that the company's security team decided to ignore.

Hi @GitHub. Remember that security bug that allows anyone to attach commits to repositories they don't control? That mistake you said you wouldn't fix? It was used to attach the 'youtube-dl' source code to your own DMCA repository, 'the tweet read.

The problem with removing youtube-dl is that it sets a dangerous precedent when it comes to removing other software repositories that do not infringe copyright. Ricardo Garcia, the original YouTube-dl creator and former project manager (between 2006 and 2011), now part of the ytdl-org group that handled the GitHub acquisition, said in a statement that he had not received legal threats prior to the withdrawal.

"I don't have a general statement about the current situation other than a personal opinion that it is really unfortunate that the repository is blocked," Garcia said. "Other people have expressed this idea much more eloquently than I have," referring to an article by the Freedom of the Press Foundation.

According to the article, many journalists and researchers told the non-governmental organization that they trust youtube-dl to cover extremist or controversial content. A disinformation researcher told the foundation how to use youtube-dl to create a baseline for machine learning models developed to verify facts in real time.

“Although our production systems are designed for use in live video broadcasts, it is not possible to test them in live video. Youtube-dl allows us to considerably increase the speed of our research development and allows us to really test our software on a daily basis, and not just when politicians have a speech to make, ”reported the Foundation.

“It is clear that youtube-dl in particular and the ability to download and manipulate videos online in general are an important part of the work of contemporary journalism and media education. Given the important role youtube-dl plays in public service reporting and archiving, the RIAA's efforts to remove this tool represent an extraordinary step with the potential for dramatic unintended consequences. We urge the RIAA to reconsider its threat and Github to restore the account in its entirety, ”the organization concluded.