YouTube enlists volunteers to moderate site via “YouTube Heroes” program

Re:YouTube enlists volunteers to moderate site via “YouTube ... by fenomas on Thursday September 22, 2016 @03:07AM (#12555029)

Did you read the link? They were compensated (with free internet access) in return for which they had to undergo training, work for a set number of hours, fill in timecards, etc. It sounds like it was a part-time job in all but name.

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Re:YouTube enlists volunteers to moderate site via “YouTube ... by fwn on Thursday September 22, 2016 @03:30AM (#12555125)

Except they knew it upfront. ...which I would argue would be the relevant criteria.

Signing up for unpaid community duties and then trying to pressure myself into a job does not feel honest to me, at all.

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Re:YouTube enlists volunteers to moderate site via “YouTube ... by ddoran on Thursday September 22, 2016 @09:45AM (#12556750)

Competitor Group are being sued in a class action lawsuit [0] by a road race volunteer claiming that volunteers were actually laborers being exploited by the defendant and in breach of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Competitor Group argued for dismissal but their arguments were denied and the case is moving forward. So the courts will decide if, despite "knowing upfront" that they were volunteering, such "work" constitutes "labor". This could have a huge impact at (for-profit) races all over the country that rely on unpaid volunteers, not to mention other for-profit entities use of "volunteers", including YouTube/Google.

[0] http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?articl...

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Re:YouTube enlists volunteers to moderate site via “YouTube ... by fenomas on Thursday September 22, 2016 @04:57AM (#12555504)

It wasn't unpaid community duties, it was compensated work that provided value to a corporation. IANAL, but I think the premise is that, as far as employment law is concerned, they were already in a job.

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