The author doesn't indicate what the supposed violation was. Does Google not even say which part of the content was alleged to be the problem?
I was blackmailed – any YouTuber could be next (2020)
31–40 of 171 posts
Re: I was blackmailed – any YouTuber could be next (2020)
#32Google's most excellent customer service at play.
Paying for customer service would result in less overall money than their current system of "you get nothing, we only respond if you have enough followers to generate a PR buzz". The people that aren't affected by the unjust terminations and bans obviously don't care enough to stop using the product, so they tend to not lose any money when it happens.
>Paying for customer service would result in less overall money than their current system of "you get nothing, we only respond if you have enough followers to generate a PR buzz"
Agree.
>The people that aren't affected by the unjust terminations and bans obviously don't care enough to stop using the product, so they tend to not lose any money when it happens.
Hard disagree. A good portion of the world turns because of these companies, and you have to spend an absolutely extraordinary amount of effort to avoid using the big services like Google/Amazon. And even more often, you aren't given a choice at all. Find me a workplace that doesn't use any of the FAANG (or whatever the acronym is now) companies at some level.
Re: I was blackmailed – any YouTuber could be next (2020)
#33Yup. Make Youtube a "common carrier" or something similar.
I would encourage anyone who thinks along these lines to read the following posts on Techdirt, which explain why this is not the solution people think it is. https://www.techdirt.com/2022/05/26/this-is-really-really-du... https://www.techdirt.com/2022/05/23/11th-circuit-disagrees-w... https://www.techdirt.com/2021/06/08/conservatives-want-commo... Something should be done to ward off the Kafkaesque future we are head…
Strange; what I get from those articles is roughly:
- Google tailors results to users, so it shouldn't be considered a common carrier
- Google doesn't charge users for access, so it shouldn't be considered a common carrier
- Internet search isn't a vital public service, so Google shouldn't be considered a common carrier
I totally believe you that there may be reasons not to consider common carrier a magic solution, but... I disagree with all three of those points.
(in other words: I think two people searching for the same terms at the same time should see the same results, and I don't think it matters that the service is funded based on indirect (advertising / tax) revenue, and I do think that many people -- in all kinds of environments -- can reasonably expect Internet access and web search to the point where we should consider it a public necessity)
Re: I was blackmailed – any YouTuber could be next (2020)
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Any youtuber that uploads comment/react/compilation/commentary videos are good targets. This is not a new thing. It's been going on for at least 4-5 years if not more. Blackmail is also a thing. "take down video x or I'll strike your account" and such.
>Blackmail is also a thing. "take down video x or I'll strike your account" and such. That's still not blackmail. Blackmail is when you threaten to divulge information about someone unless they pay you.
Just repeating the logic for my own OCD:
Blackmail is when someone threatens to release your nudes unless you pay them.
Extortion is when someone threatens to get you banned on YouTube unless you pay them.
Maybe that's because of trolling, because they don't like your content, or simply because they can get paid.
Re: I was blackmailed – any YouTuber could be next (2020)
#35To spare everyone the confusion, the author was extorted, not blackmailed. "Any YouTuber" isn't vulnerable to blackmail unless the bad actor has specific compromising information about the YouTuber to threaten with.
[deleted]
Re: I was blackmailed – any YouTuber could be next (2020)
#36While I definitely do sympathize, these might be alarm bells telling that we've given too much to these faceless corps. Maybe it's time to reimagine content sharing that has full uncensorable control of the creator and reach of today's centralized platforms, with a fair way to monetize.
What do you think that looks like?
Youtube was initially successful because hosting video for playback in a browser was difficult and expensive. It's not difficult anymore, but it's still expensive at scale. It was not profitable and only managed to keep operating because Google bought it early on and absorbed losses for a decade.
Youtube only became profitable when it started running lots of ads and using a recommendation engine that's prone to amplify misinformation and political extremism. That's not the only thing the recommendation engine does of course, but everyone running a massively popular service with user-generated content and a recommendation engine seems to have the same issues. Of course, advertisers are nervous about having their ads run next to controversial content, so these kinds of services tend to remove first and ask questions later.
Those are the reach and monetization bits. What's a better way to solve those problems than ads and a recommendation algorithm?
Re: I was blackmailed – any YouTuber could be next (2020)
#37To spare everyone the confusion, the author was extorted, not blackmailed. "Any YouTuber" isn't vulnerable to blackmail unless the bad actor has specific compromising information about the YouTuber to threaten with.
Any youtuber that uploads comment/react/compilation/commentary videos are good targets. This is not a new thing. It's been going on for at least 4-5 years if not more. Blackmail is also a thing. "take down video x or I'll strike your account" and such.
Blackmail is: "I have a video of you doing X, and will post it online unless you do Y".
Not: "I will take down X video of yours unless you do Y". That's just extortion.
Re: I was blackmailed – any YouTuber could be next (2020)
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would encourage anyone who thinks along these lines to read the following posts on Techdirt, which explain why this is not the solution people think it is. https://www.techdirt.com/2022/05/26/this-is-really-really-du... https://www.techdirt.com/2022/05/23/11th-circuit-disagrees-w... https://www.techdirt.com/2021/06/08/conservatives-want-commo... Something should be done to ward off the Kafkaesque future we are head…
Strange; what I get from those articles is roughly: - Google tailors results to users, so it shouldn't be considered a common carrier - Google doesn't charge users for access, so it shouldn't be considered a common carrier - Internet search isn't a vital public service, so Google shouldn't be considered a common carrier I totally believe you that there may be reasons not to consider common carrier a magic solution, b…
>I think two people searching for the same terms should see the same results
I agree, but that's not the point being stated.
The point is that the entire concept of Google is about ranking (a form of discrimination) the relevancy of websites to the search query. Common carrier status means that a search for "Microsoft official website" would not be able to prioritize Microsoft's official website, because that would be discriminating against all other websites that claim to be Microsoft's official website (and, by extension, discrimination against the people hosting those websites, who would then be able to sue Google for that discrimination).
Common carrier status also throws a giant wrench into the already problematic issue of content moderation.
The 11th Circuit's ruling explains the concept much more eloquently and with much greater detail than I can hope to (the full ruling is available via the 2nd link in my post).
Re: I was blackmailed – any YouTuber could be next (2020)
#39"hopefully if we yell loud enough, YouTube will here and fix this!"
Truly love Google's customer service!!!!
Re: I was blackmailed – any YouTuber could be next (2020)
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Any youtuber that uploads comment/react/compilation/commentary videos are good targets. This is not a new thing. It's been going on for at least 4-5 years if not more. Blackmail is also a thing. "take down video x or I'll strike your account" and such.
>Blackmail is also a thing. "take down video x or I'll strike your account" and such. That's still not blackmail. Blackmail is when you threaten to divulge information about someone unless they pay you.
The information that is divulged on is the "knowledge" about the circumvention of technical measures.
"Extortion is a form of theft that occurs when an offender obtains money, property, or services from another person through coercion. A form of extortion could include the threat of physical injury, destruction of property, or improper government action."
"Blackmail, in contrast to extortion, is when the offender threatens to reveal information about a victim or his family members that is potentially embarrassing, socially damaging, or incriminating unless a demand for money, property, or services is met."