3 Count: Unkept Videos

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1: Popular YouTube Download Site KeepVid No Longer Allows Downloads

First off today, Wayne Williams at Betanews reports that KeepVid, the popular site for downloading YouTube videos, is no longer allowing people to download videos. Instead, the site is now an educational resource on where to find legitimate music and videos.

KeepVid was a site that enabled users to download YouTube videos onto their hard drive. Such downloading is against the YouTube terms of service and is also a violation of the rights of the creators. However, that didn’t stop many users from taking advantage of the site to get offline access to their favorite videos.

It is unclear why KeepVid has decided to abruptly stop functioning. However, many speculate, due to the language on the site, that a rightsholder took action against them and the closure was part of a settlement.

2: YouTube Will ‘Frustrate’ Some Users With Ads So They Pay for Music

Next up today, Lucas Shaw at Bloomberg reports that YouTube has announced a new strategy that it hopes will motivate users to sign up for their paid music subscription service, even if their free users won’t be happy about it.

According to Lyor Cohen, the company’s global head of music, the company is going to start giving music listeners on the service more ads in hopes that they will pay for the ad-free service.

While they say they are still focused on user experience and don’t wish to overburden any user with ads, they hope that increasing the annoyance to those listening to a lot of music on YouTube will motivate more users to pick up paid accounts.

3: New Zealand Court Rejects Megaupload Founder’s Call for Obama Appearance

Finally today, Reuters reports that a New Zealand court has rejected an application by Kim Dotcom to compel former U.S. President Barack Obama to testify in court with regards to his lawsuit against the New Zealand and U.S. governments.

Dotcom was arrested in January 2012 in New Zealand for operating the file sharing website Megaupload. Since then he has been in a pitched battle over extradition with the U.S. government seeking to force him to face charges here. In the meantime, Dotcom has filed a lawsuit against the governments claiming they unlawfully shut his company down and restricted his freedoms.

As part of that lawsuit, Dotcom wanted President Obama to testify in court and filed his application while President Obama was visiting the country. However, the court has now rejected that application saying it was “premature”. Dotcom said he was “disappointed” in the decision but said that he is “used to fighting to get to the truth.”

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.