Technet: Daily Crunch - GitHub reinstates YouTube downloading project

The big story: GitHub reinstates YouTube downloading project

Back in October, the Recording Industry Association of America sent a DMCA complaint to GitHub over a project called YouTube-dl, which allows viewers to download YouTube videos for offline viewing. According to the trade group, YouTube-dl both circumvented DRM and, in its documentation, promoted the piracy of several popular songs.

However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation sent GitHub a letter criticizing the RIAA’s argument and suggesting that, among other things, it mischaracterizes how YouTube-dl’s code actually works.

In response, GitHub has restored the project’s code. It also says it’s rethinking how it will handle takedown notices in the future, with a new $1 million developer defense fund and the response of technical and legal review of any future claims filed under section 1201 of the DMCA.

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The tech giants

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Squarespace adds support for memberships and paywalled content — Squarespace’s new Member Areas allow businesses to charge for access to exclusive content.

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(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

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Everything else

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