![\"youtube](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/youtube-error-1.jpg\")
The music industry is convinced. Downloading music from public streaming services, YouTube in particular, is the greatest piracy threat to the industry.<\/p>\nThe music industry is convinced. Downloading music from public streaming services, YouTube in particular, is the greatest piracy threat to the industry.<\/p>\n
The RIAA and several key music labels are doing everything in their power to counter this menace. They\u2019ve sued several YouTube download sites, removed streamripper URLs from search engines, and most recently they targeted the open-source tool youtube-dl as well. <\/p>\n
The last move was a step too far for many. It immediately triggered outrage among developers and the public at large<\/a>. The opposition reached new heights this week when GitHub and EFF drew a clear line in the sand. No further. <\/p>\n After some modifications, youtube-dl\u2019s repository was reinstated<\/a>. This was great news for the developers, users, and many stream-ripping sites that rely on the tool. But the decision and the reasoning behind it are much, much bigger than that. <\/p>\n In isolation, the youtube-dl code is a relatively small problem for the music industry. Similar tools will always be available. While the RIAA liked the message that was sent by the removal, they perhaps didn\u2019t foresee that a refusal to take down the same code would be much worse. <\/p>\n Both GitHub and the EFF have made it very clear that YouTube downloading tools are not by definition illegal. On the contrary. <\/p>\n \u201cYoutube-dl is a lot like the videocassette recorders of decades past: a flexible tool for saving personal copies of video that\u2019s already accessible to the public,\u201d the digital rights group wrote<\/a> in a recent post on the topic.<\/p>\n GitHub also stressed that youtube-dl is a \u201csocially beneficial tool<\/a>\u201d which can help researchers, journalists, and the public at large. <\/p>\n These comments, which are only a tiny selection of the broader message, are a potential game-changer. The backing from GitHub is particularly notable, as the company is owned by Microsoft, which in its own right is one of the largest copyright holders in the world. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n That said, the legality of YouTube download tools is not impacted directly by the public commentary. Eventually, this is something that courts will have to decide over. In the US, there is no clear jurisprudence on this specific issue but that may change in the near future.<\/p>\n The RIAA\u2019s main argument is that these tools violate DMCA section 1201, which prohibits the circumvention of technical protection measures. In YouTube\u2019s case, the RIAA cites the \u201crolling cipher\u201d protection that YouTube uses to make downloading from the site somewhat more complicated. <\/p>\n The question is whether this \u201crolling cipher\u201d is indeed a protection measure under the DMCA. That\u2019s up to a court to decide, but we have previously shown that anyone with a browser can easily download from YouTube<\/a> without extra tools. <\/p>\n The RIAA\u2019s position is strengthened by a 2017 order from a court in Germany<\/a>, that was also cited in the GitHub takedown notice. There, the court ruled that the \u201crolling cipher\u201d is a technical measure within the meaning of Germany\u2019s Copyright Act.<\/p>\n However, not everyone believes that the court was correct here. EFF stated that, contrary to the court\u2019s ruling, there is no encryption involved. YouTube\u2019s video streams are visible to everyone who uses a regular web browser. The \u2018rolling cipher\u2019 simply refers to a changing signature, readable by Javascript, that\u2019s used for some videos.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 2017 decision of the Hamburg Regional Court in Germany that RIAA references, which refers to YouTube\u2019s \u201csignature\u201d mechanism, was wrongly decided and is not binding nor even persuasive under U.S. law,\u201d EFF wrote.<\/p>\n GitHub also believes that the German court made an error. Following EFF\u2019s lead, the company concluded that youtube-dl was not circumventing a technical protection measure. \u201cWe concluded that the allegations did not establish a violation of the law,\u201d GitHub said. <\/p>\n These are strong statements that will eventually have to be tested before a judge and that may happen sooner rather than later. There are currently two major US lawsuits where the legality of YouTube rippers could be decided. While EFF and GitHub are not part of those cases, their input will likely prove a factor.<\/p>\n One of the lawsuits was filed by Johnathan Nader, the operator of the stream-ripper \u2018Yout\u2019, who sued the RIAA last month. Nader decided to be one step ahead of the music industry by demanding a declaratory judgment that his website doesn\u2019t violate Section 1201 of the DMCA<\/a>. <\/p>\n However, the photo he shared with us reveals that he\u2019s happy with EFF\u2019s stance on the matter.<\/p>\n Nader\u2019s lawsuit touches on the \u2018rolling cipher\u2019 argument as well, and he denies that anything is being decrypted or bypassed.<\/p>\n Another lawsuit where the same issue may be brought up was filed by several of the largest music labels two years ago, with support from the RIAA. They sued the YouTube ripping sites FLVTO.biz, 2conv.com<\/a>, and their Russian operator Tofig Kurbanov. <\/p>\n Both sides are currently still fighting over whether a US court has jurisdiction. Kurbanov\u2019s legal team recently petitioned the US Supreme Court to hear that matter. <\/p>\n If the court decides that the site operator has to defend himself, he is surrounded by a legal team that is confident that they can defeat the copyright and anti-circumvention allegations.<\/p>\n Speaking with TorrentFreak, Kurbanov\u2019s defense attorney Evan Fray-Witzer equates stream-ripping to the other technological advances that were protested by the music industry over the years.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that the RIAA has consistently opposed virtually every technological advance from the 1970s forward including the advent of cassette tapes, compact discs, and MP3s. For 50 years they have been yelling that the sky is falling and yet \u2013 despite this hysteria \u2013 music continues not only to survive but to flourish.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Fray-Witzer, this latest attack on stream-ripping is equally misguided and will eventually fail. <\/p>\n \u201cUsers have lots of legitimate uses for stream-ripping that have nothing to do with music. And, even when you\u2019re talking about music, users have a legitimate right to time-shift, just as the courts found that people could record TV shows with their VCRs so that they could watch them at a different time,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Yout.com and Kurbanov\u2019s cases are not the first stream-ripper lawsuits. A few years ago, the record labels already sued YouTube-MP3<\/a>. That site eventually settled the case privately and shut down. While the RIAA celebrated this as a major win, this outcome has little effect on the current cases.<\/p>\n \u201cSo far, the RIAA\u2019s successes in court have been the result of defendants who lack the ability to fight back and to prove that these tools do not actually violate copyright law. Hopefully, that\u2019s about to change,\u201d Fray-Witzer notes. <\/p>\n \u201cStream-ripping sites and software are simply tools \u2013 tools with lots of legitimate uses, as the EFF has recognized,\u201d the attorney adds.<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear that the YouTube downloaders find themselves supported by the recent backing from GitHub and the EFF, but the moral support is just part of the story. In addition, both are also calling on the Copyright Office to broaden the DMCA Section 1201 exceptions<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are also advocating specifically on the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA to promote developers\u2019 freedom to build socially beneficial tools like youtube-dl,\u201d GitHub said this week, announcing their plan to get involved in the Copyright Office\u2019s triannual review process.<\/p>\n Right now, US law makes it illegal for most developers to use or distribute code that bypasses technical protection measures, even if that technology or code can also be used for non-infringing or legal means.<\/p>\n Time will tell how these and other issues will develop over time but it\u2019s clear that the RIAA\u2019s takedown notice to GitHub was a wake-up call. Now we just have to see who and what it awakened.<\/p>\n TorrentFreak also reached out to the RIAA before to hear their comments about the takedown notice but the group hasn\u2019t responded. It\u2019s not a stretch to conclude that they are not happy with GitHub\u2019s reversal, to say the least. <\/p>\n From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\n\u2018YouTube Downloading Tools are Not Illegal\u2019<\/h2>\n
![\"github](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/github-standing.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\nRolling Cipher Encryption?<\/h2>\n
Stream-Ripper Battle Continues in Court<\/h2>\n
![\"nader](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/nader-eff.jpg\")
TorrentFreak reached out to Nader, who said he prefers not to comment on the ongoing litigation. Especially since the RIAA has yet to formally reply. <\/p>\n\u2018RIAA Opposed Every Technological Advance\u2019<\/h2>\n
![\"2conv\"](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/2conv.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\nDMCA Section 1201 Exceptions<\/h2>\n