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Blender is testing PeerTube after YouTube blocks their videos worldwide

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Re: Blender is testing PeerTube after YouTube blocks their videos worldwide

#51

Wait, am I reading this right? If you're a particularly popular channel, you're required to monetize and YT will block you if you don't? That's ridiculous, and it's totally shooting yourself in the foot. The vast majority of creators with many views do want to monetize, YouTube is losing almost nothing by allowing people not to if they choose. They must be really be desparate for revenue over there.

Wait, a company wants to make money on its free service? Shocking.

The company could realise the goodwill generated by allowing some limited channels to run video without ads, and the badwill generated by blocking those videos.

Re: Blender is testing PeerTube after YouTube blocks their videos worldwide

#52
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, they picked the wrong org to gamble on strongarming in the case of Blender. Instead of getting them to monetize they've just compelled Blender to move platforms.

Blender serves as an optimal test case for other large non-profits with online video content that Google may push off YouTube (would love to see PyCon move their archives off as well). Discovery and subscriptions will need to be solved, but that’s not insurmountable (ie RSS). CDNs can be plug and play in front of nginx (if P2P torrent isn't your cup of tea), backend storage can be whatever is cheapest.

If only things were so simple. This reminds me how not too long ago, how everyone was trying to make a clone of HN and Reddit within 24 hours in x programming language.

It's one thing make a service for few 100 users, it's a different beast to serve millions of users. In case of Online Videos, it is not only extremely difficult, it still remains very expensive. There is literally a handful of companies who can financially and technically pull it off at youtube-scale. After more than 10 years, youtube either makes very little profit or still not profitable.

Re: Blender is testing PeerTube after YouTube blocks their videos worldwide

#53
post #49
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More like if you're a particularly popular channel with revenue and a budget . YouTube isn't a service for nonprofits to use to offload their bandwidth costs. If you have money to pay for your other expenses, it's not reasonable to expect this one supplier to do it for free. Morally, Google deserves some kind of reimbursement here. Advertising is certainly one way to square that. Honestly I don't see what the big dea…

Aside from the fact that Blender is a non-profit backing a free, open-source application -- you're right. YouTube does have that right. And I have the right to think holding the dissemination of free educational material hostage to make a quick buck is reprehensible. Also don't forget that YouTube gave them the option to not advertise on those videos. It's so arbitrarily capricious I was convinced it was a technical…

> Aside from the fact that Blender is a non-profit backing a free, open-source application

The Blender Foundation isn't "Blender", though. It's a financial entity with income (there's literally a giant "donate" link on their home page) and expenses. They pay for all sorts of stuff that they need (obviously I have no clue what their balance sheet looks like).

And no one whines that they don't get free conference admission or airline tickets or printer paper or whatever. Why is their video hosting any different?

Re: Blender is testing PeerTube after YouTube blocks their videos worldwide

#54

So YouTube created an effective monopoly through social networking, and now is abusing that position. Not surprising but disappointing. Hopefully people leave YouTube in droves and remind them that their position is not static. First time hearing of PeerTube, but looks good so far.

> now is abusing that position Offering to host your videos for free and display ads along them hardly seems like "abusing that position"...

Blocking your videos and holding them hostage until you agree to a new contract would be abuse, yes.

Re: Blender is testing PeerTube after YouTube blocks their videos worldwide

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> now is abusing that position Offering to host your videos for free and display ads along them hardly seems like "abusing that position"...

For free? YouTube gives Google _unparalleled_ access to what we like, how we think, what we want, ... It's the best profiling tool there is. Let's not say "for free" when we are paying a price for it already.

Yes, for free. You can create an account and upload as many videos as you want without paying absolutely anything. Even more, without handing over any personal information.

But hey, feel free to upload your videos elsewhere.

Re: Blender is testing PeerTube after YouTube blocks their videos worldwide

#56
post #53
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aside from the fact that Blender is a non-profit backing a free, open-source application -- you're right. YouTube does have that right. And I have the right to think holding the dissemination of free educational material hostage to make a quick buck is reprehensible. Also don't forget that YouTube gave them the option to not advertise on those videos. It's so arbitrarily capricious I was convinced it was a technical…

> Aside from the fact that Blender is a non-profit backing a free, open-source application The Blender Foundation isn't "Blender", though. It's a financial entity with income (there's literally a giant "donate" link on their home page) and expenses. They pay for all sorts of stuff that they need (obviously I have no clue what their balance sheet looks like). And no one whines that they don't get free conference admis…

> And no one whines that they don't get free conference admission or airline tickets or printer paper or whatever

Those are terrible analogies. YouTube offers free hosting with the ability to opt out of monetizing your videos -- features that they will apparently punish you for using. That is absurdly user-hostile.

Re: Blender is testing PeerTube after YouTube blocks their videos worldwide

#57
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that the single search box with consistent UX is the killer feature. Subscription is too, in another way. Alternatives need to address these; I believe federated video services / toobs are the only way to aim for the first. Subscriptions should be replaced with RSS.

I stopped using the YouTube site long ago. I only subscribe via Feedly/RSS and watch the videos I want directly with 99% no ads even without an adblocker via the embeded video player.

Where do the creators you follow host their videos?

Re: Blender is testing PeerTube after YouTube blocks their videos worldwide

#58
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blender serves as an optimal test case for other large non-profits with online video content that Google may push off YouTube (would love to see PyCon move their archives off as well). Discovery and subscriptions will need to be solved, but that’s not insurmountable (ie RSS). CDNs can be plug and play in front of nginx (if P2P torrent isn't your cup of tea), backend storage can be whatever is cheapest.

If only things were so simple. This reminds me how not too long ago, how everyone was trying to make a clone of HN and Reddit within 24 hours in x programming language. It's one thing make a service for few 100 users, it's a different beast to serve millions of users. In case of Online Videos, it is not only extremely difficult, it still remains very expensive. There is literally a handful of companies who can financ…

I don't disagree. Consider that perhaps you can't serve videos online and expect it to be entirely free. Can you run your compute for free? No. Can you host your database for free? No. Why would serving videos be any different? (Let's ignore limited free tiers for this argument).

The more popular the content, the cheaper per unit it'll be to serve (based on bandwidth/transit costs and how they scale, and that you most likely can serve it out of RAM with Varnish, a very inexpensive CDN, or peer to peer), but there will still be a cost, and either the producer or the consumers of that content will need to pay for it.

Re: Blender is testing PeerTube after YouTube blocks their videos worldwide

#59
post #56
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Aside from the fact that Blender is a non-profit backing a free, open-source application The Blender Foundation isn't "Blender", though. It's a financial entity with income (there's literally a giant "donate" link on their home page) and expenses. They pay for all sorts of stuff that they need (obviously I have no clue what their balance sheet looks like). And no one whines that they don't get free conference admis…

> And no one whines that they don't get free conference admission or airline tickets or printer paper or whatever Those are terrible analogies. YouTube offers free hosting with the ability to opt out of monetizing your videos -- features that they will apparently punish you for using. That is absurdly user-hostile.

Meh. And we've come full circle. It seems to my eyes that they only "punish" you for not advertising if you have the means to pay other expenses but want to freeload on youtube specifically. And I don't see why I should care about that.

It's very likely that Blender is going to have the same problem with Dailymotion and Vimeo too. No one wants to (or has the means) to be a dumping ground for hosting other people's content. We all have to share in this world. As it happens advertising is the mechanism YouTube offers for sharing revenue.

Re: Blender is testing PeerTube after YouTube blocks their videos worldwide

#60
post #4

4 days now (since the 15th at least) and nothing out of YT. I realize that the portion of their viewers interested in MIT OCW or Blender is small, compared to the portion interested in FNAF and dental surgery on characters from Frozen... but it's also probably the portion they want to piss off least as an internet company. ed: see below comment from OscarCunningham

This will barely register as a blip for YouTube. They'll survive and be more profitable afterwards.
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