Re:YouTube-dl can no longer download age-restricted videos
by jmiserez on Wednesday June 02, 2021 @10:17AM
(#27368972)
Quoting dang:
>On HN, downvoting for disagreement has always been fine: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16131314
Re:YouTube-dl can no longer download age-restricted videos
by gundmc on Tuesday June 01, 2021 @10:17PM
(#27364027)
> although Youtube still does track you, but in ways that probably violate EU law, and might violate US law too.
I was in agreement with your post until this throw-in line at the end. What reason do you have to believe that YouTube is breaking US and EU law?
Re:YouTube-dl can no longer download age-restricted videos
by aplorbust on Tuesday June 01, 2021 @11:23PM
(#27364457)
1. They have betrayed user trust in the past and continue to do so.
2. They have been sued by the FTC, paid millions in settlements, and failed to prove that they did not break the law.
3. They are currently being sued by the DOJ and many states attorney general.
4. They have made numerous settlements in private privacy-related litigation as opposed to proving they were not liable, despite having enormous cash reserves available for legal costs.
If someone were to suspect Google was "probably" breaking the law, this does not seem like an unreasonable suspicion.
It is frowned upon here, but not against the rules. Downvotes on HN should, optimally, only be used to downvote comments that truly do not add anything to the conversation constructively.
qwerty's comment, imo, was constructive, as that is a common use case of ytdl: to watch a video without being explicitly tracked by Youtube; although Youtube still does track you, but in ways that probably violate EU law, and might violate US law too.