If rolled out widely, this would make web browsers and third-party YouTube clients without a DRM license unusable for YouTube playback, download, etc. This would include almost all open-source web browsers and almost all third-party YouTube clients. Archive link to reddit post about this
I know you’re getting downvoted here but there is a valid question there. It’s the largest streaming site on the internet which takes up massive amounts of storage and bandwidth. How do people propose it’s paid for? You generally either have to have ads (which it seems everyone hates) or you pay for a subscription (which everyone hates). So what is the best model to offset that cost? It’s not a public service.
The problem isn’t ads or subscription fees, the problem is ads and subscription fees in addition to the data scraping. Google, and by extension Youtube, harvest your data from all over the internet and use it to sell ads. The data and CAPTCHAs you see all over from Google are trackers (that’s how clicking a box can determine you’re human) that ars harvesting data and fingerprinting your device to make you easier to identify.
In 2025, do you really want a demonstrably evil company that supports the American kleptocracy to have access to your data?
In comes freetube and invidious: responses to the above problem. By acting proxy to youtube you avoid the ads (which contain spyware) and you avoid downloading site data from Google (which likely contains spyware).
It isn’t a payment issue, and the pirates aren’t upset about costs, it’s just that in the age of glass walls online, we want our fucking privacy back.
Okay. So if they were willing to stop the data scraping, how many people do you think would be willing to pay for a subscription or increased ads to offset the costs?
More than you’d think, but if folks are like myself than not as many as g-daddy would need to justify the switch to a more legitimate model.
Personally, when a company unilaterally decides it can do whatever the 🦆 it wants with my data, I believe that road goes both ways, so I’ll do whatever the 🦆 I want with theirs. Including downloading it without paying.
None of them. You know this answer. They would screech if it were $50 a month.
Just bring up kagi and see how many folks make up excuses why they suck and ain’t worth it.
They just want a post facto reason to justify their pirating and stealing. They never were going to pay.
Yeah. That’s why Netflix went out of business so quickly.
You don’t think Netflix scrapes your data to offset the price?
Y’all jumping through some wild hoops to win an internet argument 🤣
You’re acting like A) it’s not part of a company pulling down billion dollar profits and B) any loss isn’t being used to depress tax paid by other arms of said company