I'd make a stronger statement: Outside tech circles I'd bet that, in practice, the vast majority of YouTube viewers would abandon it in droves if YouTube remove

I'd make a stronger statement: Outside tech circles I'd bet that, in practice, the vast majority of YouTube viewers would abandon it in droves if YouTube removed Content ID. I'm sure they don't like Content ID in the abstract (and plenty may be frustrated by personal encounters with it), but I bet most of them care far more about the first-party content on YouTube from the entertainment industry that the Content ID "treaty" has made possible.