{"id":53141,"date":"2020-12-18T09:01:13","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T09:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=53141"},"modified":"2020-12-18T09:01:13","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T09:01:13","slug":"youtube-dl-dispute-helps-yout-com-enhance-lawsuit-against-riaa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=53141","title":{"rendered":"YouTube-DL Dispute Helps Yout.com Enhance Lawsuit Against RIAA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RIAA\"<\/a>During October, the RIAA ignited a fierce debate and significant outrage when it filed a complaint that took down<\/a> the open source software youtube-dl from Github.<\/p>\n

The music industry group stated that the \u201cclear purpose\u201d of youtube-dl was to \u201ccircumvent the technological protection measures\u201d used by YouTube to \u201creproduce and distribute music videos and sound recordings owned by our member companies without authorization for such use.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pre-Emptive Strike By YouTube-Ripper Yout<\/h2>\n

Just days later with public opinion swinging strongly in youtube-dl\u2019s favor, YouTube-ripping platform Yout seized the opportunity to sue the RIAA<\/a>. Yout had previously been targeted with similar allegations, including that Yout is an illegal tool that violates Section 1201 of the DMCA by circumventing YouTube\u2019s \u201ctechnical protection measures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dismissing the RIAA\u2019s claims as baseless, Yout\u2019s complaint outlined various actions taken by the label group that ended up damaging its business. For example, Google took the RIAA\u2019s copyright complaints at face value and delisted Yout from its search results. On top, the public takedown notices also devalued Yout\u2019s business by tarnishing its reputation, the company explained.<\/p>\n

Amended Complaint Highlights Additional Damage<\/h2>\n

In an amended complaint filed in a Connecticut court this week, Yout repeated many of the allegations contained in its original complaint. However, a new piece of information suggests that the RIAA also used its powers to attack Yout\u2019s ability to make and receive money.<\/p>\n

Yout says that in response to searches for its platform, Yout\u2019s customers were informed by Google that due to copyright complaints received against Yout.com, results had been removed at the behest of the RIAA. This, the platform claims, ended up in Yout customers canceling their subscriptions.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Yout claims that the RIAA also used its powers to limit its ability to receive process payments.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn information and belief, Defendants\u2019 DMCA notices have caused PayPal to shut down Yout\u2019s account, causing Yout further significant monetary and reputational damage,\u201d the filing reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Defendants acted with intent and actual malice when they engaged in the foregoing conduct because they intended to harm the Plaintiffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enhanced Rejections of Anti-Circumvention Allegations<\/h2>\n

In Yout\u2019s original complaint the platform described itself as a time-shifting service that, in the absence of any specific circumvention of technological copyright protection, cannot be in violation of the anti-circumvention measures of the DMCA.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Yout flatly denied circumventing any of YouTube\u2019s protection measures, including its so-called \u201crolling cipher\u201d, the mechanism at the very heart of the RIAA\u2019s complaint against youtube-dl. What is interesting in Yout\u2019s amended complaint is that it now makes enhanced claims and denials, which show clear signs of benefiting from the EFF\u2019s and Github\u2019s legal stance<\/a> in the youtube-dl matter.<\/p>\n

\u201c[T]he rolling cipher mechanism employed by YouTube does not prevent copying of videos or other digital media,\u201d Yout\u2019s amended complaint reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cYout\u2019s software platform works the same way as a browser<\/a> when it encounters
\nthe signature mechanism: it reads and interprets the JavaScript program sent by YouTube, derives a signature value [referred to by RIAA as a \u2018rolling cipher\u2019], and sends that value back to YouTube to initiate the video stream<\/p>\n

\u201cYout\u2019s software platform contains no password, key, or other secret knowledge that is required to access YouTube videos. It simply uses the same mechanism that YouTube presents to each and every user who views a video,\u201d the company adds.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell, Yout says that it cannot circumvent the rolling cipher (as defined in the DMCA) because YouTube itself provides the means to access video streams to anyone who asks for them.<\/p>\n

\u201c[O]ne cannot \u2018circumvent\u2019 an access control by using publicly available means,\u201d the platform concludes.<\/p>\n

Targeting YouTube-DL Proves Counterproductive<\/h2>\n

Whether the RIAA anticipated the backlash in response to its targeting of youtube-dl or not, it now faces a significantly more difficult struggle to suppress similar tools and services. With the EFF and Github now heavily involved, it\u2019s no longer a simple case of sending takedown notices and watching tools disappear.<\/p>\n

And, as Yout\u2019s lawsuit shows, there could be additional legal repercussions<\/a> too, including a potential effect on long-running cases that the RIAA is already embroiled in<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yout\u2019s amended complaint can be found here<\/a> (pdf)<\/em><\/p>\n

From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\n

Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During October, the RIAA ignited a fierce debate and significant outrage when it filed a complaint that took down the open source software youtube-dl from Github. The music industry group stated that the \u201cclear purpose\u201d of youtube-dl was to \u201ccircumvent the technological protection measures\u201d used by YouTube to \u201creproduce and distribute music videos and sound […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53142,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[308],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-torrent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}