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> I uploaded full seasons of a very old 90s cartoon and my account is disabled. I cannot even purchase YouTube TV to try it out. You violated the law and their

> I uploaded full seasons of a very old 90s cartoon and my account is disabled. I cannot even purchase YouTube TV to try it out. You violated the law and their (rather reasonable in this case) terms of service and are shocked to find they'd rather not do business with you?

raesene9 9y ago
I think the problem is where accounts control a large part of someone's digital life. so for example here, it appears that someone breached Youtube ToS and lost their whole Google account. Now imagine you've got all your e-mail/photos/contacts etc in that account and you've just permanently lost them due to that ToS breach. Of course as technical people we can say "ahh you should have had off-cloud backups", but realistically most non-technical people won't do that and likely won't realise the consequences of their actions.
- morganvachon 9y ago
  "I think the problem is where accounts control a large part of someone's digital life. so for example here, it appears that someone breached Youtube ToS and lost their whole Google account." Exactly. I recall the incident[1] where some Google Pixel phone customers were reselling their phones and making a tiny profit. Google permanently deleted hundreds of accounts and never restored them, for violating a mobile phone TOS. Ban them from the Fi mobile service, sure, but don't delete their entire digital lives! That's like getting a life sentence for shoplifting in the physical world. All your eggs in one basket is never a good strategy, and though I wasn't personally affected by it, the Pixel Phone fiasco opened my eyes to just how much Google and Facebook controlled my own digital persona. I now use neither of their services. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/17/google-suspends-customer-accounts-for-reselling-pixel-phones https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/17/google-su...
fauigerzigerk 9y ago
Draconian punishment without warning and without recourse in response to a single misstep would indeed be very surprising. If that is what actually happened then it invites regulatory action considering Google's unparalleled market share and reach.
- kuschku 9y ago
  It happens frequently from Google. You bought a Pixel phone, and Google thinks you might be a reseller? Then your account will be terminated, too. And yes, there should be massive regulatory action, Google is doing so much stuff that should be fixed, it’s impossible to even list it all.
BinaryIdiot 9y ago
> You violated the law and their (rather reasonable in this case) terms of service and are shocked to find they'd rather not do business with you? When I worked in the Intelligence Community I had to go through multiple FBI investigations and polygraphs. Every single one of them asked me about laws I may have violated in the past. One of the agents even said (paraphrased, of course) "Maybe you downloaded some movies? It's illegal but many don't realize it and probably most people do it". Pirating is one of those crimes that has become normalized. The parent may have realized it was illegal but didn't think much of it and probably didn't realize it would lead to his account being completely disabled. The trouble with Google accounts and becoming disabled is it can very likely ruin a good part of your life because of how much of your data they hold and there are zero ways to redeem yourself if you did do something wrong and there are zero ways to resolve the problem if it was due to something inaccurate or false (which has happened especially if someone else gets into your account).
- eweise 9y ago
  Is downloading movies illegal?
  - Anon1096 9y ago
    Sharing copyrighted content is
    - icebraining 9y ago
      Not just sharing - even loading a program to RAM to run it is considered a copy and needs a license, as per MAI v. Peak.
  - sp332 9y ago
    They can sue for copyright infringement, but since the damages are tiny, they generally don't bother. What's different since the DMCA is that "commercial scale" infringement is now a criminal offense even if you're not making any money. And if you're uploading, say by using a bittorrent client which uploads while you're "downloading", then they could make a criminal case.
hobarrera 9y ago
The problem is when a company which has such huge monopolies decides they won't do business with you. This guy has a for-life veto on a lot of the leading technologies, and cannot use a lot of product (in an every increasing list).

raesene9 9y ago

I think the problem is where accounts control a large part of someone's digital life. so for example here, it appears that someone breached Youtube ToS and lost their whole Google account. Now imagine you've got all your e-mail/photos/contacts etc in that account and you've just permanently lost them due to that ToS breach. Of course as technical people we can say "ahh you should have had off-cloud backups", but realistically most non-technical people won't do that and likely won't realise the consequences of their actions.

morganvachon 9y ago
"I think the problem is where accounts control a large part of someone's digital life. so for example here, it appears that someone breached Youtube ToS and lost their whole Google account." Exactly. I recall the incident[1] where some Google Pixel phone customers were reselling their phones and making a tiny profit. Google permanently deleted hundreds of accounts and never restored them, for violating a mobile phone TOS. Ban them from the Fi mobile service, sure, but don't delete their entire digital lives! That's like getting a life sentence for shoplifting in the physical world. All your eggs in one basket is never a good strategy, and though I wasn't personally affected by it, the Pixel Phone fiasco opened my eyes to just how much Google and Facebook controlled my own digital persona. I now use neither of their services. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/17/google-suspends-customer-accounts-for-reselling-pixel-phones https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/17/google-su...

fauigerzigerk 9y ago

Draconian punishment without warning and without recourse in response to a single misstep would indeed be very surprising. If that is what actually happened then it invites regulatory action considering Google's unparalleled market share and reach.

kuschku 9y ago
It happens frequently from Google. You bought a Pixel phone, and Google thinks you might be a reseller? Then your account will be terminated, too. And yes, there should be massive regulatory action, Google is doing so much stuff that should be fixed, it’s impossible to even list it all.

BinaryIdiot 9y ago

> You violated the law and their (rather reasonable in this case) terms of service and are shocked to find they'd rather not do business with you? When I worked in the Intelligence Community I had to go through multiple FBI investigations and polygraphs. Every single one of them asked me about laws I may have violated in the past. One of the agents even said (paraphrased, of course) "Maybe you downloaded some movies? It's illegal but many don't realize it and probably most people do it". Pirating is one of those crimes that has become normalized. The parent may have realized it was illegal but didn't think much of it and probably didn't realize it would lead to his account being completely disabled. The trouble with Google accounts and becoming disabled is it can very likely ruin a good part of your life because of how much of your data they hold and there are zero ways to redeem yourself if you did do something wrong and there are zero ways to resolve the problem if it was due to something inaccurate or false (which has happened especially if someone else gets into your account).

eweise 9y ago
Is downloading movies illegal?
- Anon1096 9y ago
  Sharing copyrighted content is
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Not just sharing - even loading a program to RAM to run it is considered a copy and needs a license, as per MAI v. Peak.
- sp332 9y ago
  They can sue for copyright infringement, but since the damages are tiny, they generally don't bother. What's different since the DMCA is that "commercial scale" infringement is now a criminal offense even if you're not making any money. And if you're uploading, say by using a bittorrent client which uploads while you're "downloading", then they could make a criminal case.

hobarrera 9y ago

The problem is when a company which has such huge monopolies decides they won't do business with you. This guy has a for-life veto on a lot of the leading technologies, and cannot use a lot of product (in an every increasing list).