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www.jeffgeerling.com

"this morning, as I was finishing up work on a video about a new mini Pi cluster, I got a cheerful email from YouTube saying my video on LibreELEC on the Pi 5 was removed because it promoted:

Dangerous or Harmful Content Content that describes how to get unauthorized or free access to audio or audiovisual content, software, subscription services, or games that usually require payment isn’t allowed on YouTube.

I never described any of that stuff, only how to self-host your own media library.

This wasn’t my first rodeo—in October last year, I got a strike for showing people how to install Jellyfin!

In that case, I was happy to see my appeal granted within an hour of the strike being placed on the channel. (Nevermind the fact the video had been live for over two years at that point, with nary a problem!)

So I thought, this case will be similar:

  • The video’s been up for over a year, without issue
  • The video’s had over half a million views
  • The video doesn’t promote or highlight any tools used to circumvent copyright, get around paid subscriptions, or reproduce any content illegally

Slam-dunk, right? Well, not according to whomever reviewed my appeal. Apparently self-hosted open source media library management is harmful.

Who knew open source software could be so subversive?"

  • errer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    13 days ago

    I know peertube is the fancy right way to self-host videos, but does anyone just post movie files directly to their website anymore? Seems pretty easy to throw mp4s into a folder on your web server…

    • TheOneCurly@feddit.onlineEnglish
      0·
      13 days ago

      That’s a pretty rough way to serve videos if you get popular. Peertube at least does some peering to help mitigate your server load.

      • mesa@piefed.socialEnglish
        0·
        13 days ago

        Yeah the p2p nature of it means it scales really well if anything goes viral. Not to say throwing a video on some video tags in HTML isn’t a bad idea.

  • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
    0·
    13 days ago

    I’m surprised YouTube still lets you list your PeerTube channel in your YouTube channel description.

    I try to drive all my YT traffic straight to PT

  • ThirdConsul@lemmy.ml
    0·
    13 days ago

    If you’re located in EU this could be a great case for DSA-based mediation. If you’re pissed maybe try reaching out to a DSA appointed mediator in your country?

  • Meldrik@lemmy.wtf
    0·
    13 days ago

    Some in the fediverse ask why I’m not on Peertube. Here’s the problem (and it’s not insurmountable): right now, there’s no easy path towards sustainable content production when the audience for the content is 100x smaller, and the number of patrons/sponsors remains proportionally the same.

    How is this preventing Jeff from also uploading his videos to PeerTube? It can literally be automated by PeerTube.

    If the Linux Experiment can, then why not Jeff as well?

    • BrightCandle@lemmy.world
      0·
      13 days ago

      The thing is peertube wont grow unless the people aware of it start advertising and using it as an alternative. It takes collective investment in building the audience on an alternative for it to become viable.

    • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
      0·
      13 days ago

      It might be against YT ToS but he could have shorter versions on YT and say the full version is on PeerTube. Biggest issue rn is probably advertising. Most people wouldn’t think to look on PeerTube, if they know it exists, so nobody wants to post to PeerTube. The Reddit API fiasco was a boon to Lemmy so this could be as well, but steps need to be taken while outrage is fresh.

    • deafboy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      13 days ago

      Peertube has a major disadvantage, though. It does not come with prebuilt revenue stream to cover your hosting costs.

      In other words, he would become the customer, not the product, which comes with the certain set of advantages and disadvantages.

      edit: or he could spin up his own instance, which would result in him having one more fulltime job :)

      • DragonSidedD@lemmy.mlBanned
        0·
        13 days ago

        An easy peertube + Ghost spin for content providers could probably be a viable business model

      • Meldrik@lemmy.wtf
        0·
        13 days ago

        If he had hosting costs, that would mean he’s hosting his own PeerTube instance, which is definitely something big content creators should be doing. But he could start out with using Tilvids.com (like The Linux Experiment) or another PeerTube instance.

        How does he backup his videos today? Wouldn’t it make sense if you used your backup solution with your own PeerTube instance?

      • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        0·
        13 days ago

        Sponsorships seem to be getting increasingly common and IIRC are way more profitable than youtube ads. Also typically less annoying to the end user? Not sure, I sponsorblock them. At the very least you can choose where they go.

          • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
            0·
            13 days ago

            View numbers. They don’t care where people are viewing it. Which is why you can then distribute it to as many platforms as you like.

            • krolden@lemmy.ml
              0·
              13 days ago

              They will pull something like “we cannot verify the viewer numbers on your content cannot be verified as the platform you published to has not made a deal with us behind the scenes”

              • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
                0·
                13 days ago

                Podcasts have managed on platforms that don’t even report viewer counts. Apparently they didn’t like it when it was updated so that they did.

                An obvious option though is discount codes or affiliate links.

    • mesa@piefed.socialEnglish
      0·
      13 days ago

      Agreed. Im seeign a lot of new faces in peertube land. Its been a pretty good time.

      I kinda want to do a “best of peertube 2025” and get a couple of 10 second clips together just for fun. Just like a “best of” with some collabs if possible.

  • Zerush@lemmy.ml
    0·
    13 days ago

    The best alternatives for creators to obtain revenue are Bandcamp and Odysee, they have an fair business modell. Certainly when YT said selfhosting is harmfull, it’s only for their business modell, but if creators create their own pages with their work, it’s not really a solution, it will be interesting only for direct fans.

    • lime!@feddit.nuEnglish
      0·
      13 days ago

      problem with odysee is that it’s full of nazis so nobody wants to use it. like literally, one of the first videos that comes up is from the nordic resistance movement. and since it’s based on the lbry blockchain illegal content can’t be removed, only hidden from the frontend.

      • Zerush@lemmy.ml
        0·
        13 days ago

        Certainly also nazis upload their trash there, same as in all other platforms, seen include in Mastodon instances, also in YT. That cant be avoided in public accesible platformas.

        • lime!@feddit.nuEnglish
          0·
          13 days ago

          yeah but on other sites that gets removed. if you’re blockchain-backed, it stays online. also, most places remove hate speech. if you’re a “free speech absolutism” platform, guess where all the nazis are gonna go.

      • bluesheep@lemm.ee
        0·
        13 days ago

        Didn’t see that specific one but the amount of conspiracy theory videos I saw immediately turned me off of that website. Now that I know that it’s got a block chain backend even more lmao

    • Absaroka@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      13 days ago

      Let’s also not forget Google wants you storing your photos on Google Photos, listening to music on YouTube, buying / renting movies from the Google Store, and streaming from Google TV.

      It isn’t just YouTube. It’s their whole ecosystem.

      By the way, I have a NAS setup. Was it pricey? Sure. But it cost about what it would to watch the NFL this year, and should last several years.

  • spv.sh@lemmy.spv.shEnglish
    0·
    13 days ago

    i oughta upload a video in the vein of “it’d be a damn shame if someone mentioned that i’m hosting a peertube instance” lmao

  • kudra@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    0·
    13 days ago

    Oh, it’s dangerous and harmful all right : to their business model.

    I think the big G is probably starting to get pretty nervous about self hosting. It absolutely is a threat to their existence. They are nothing without users.

    There’s a lot of us fed up with enshittification and every video that helps people break free of their capture is extremely dangerous to them. Seriously.

      • Cris@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        13 days ago

        Yeah, this is definitely a broken corporate system issue rather than a nefarious plot. Google takes down, demonitizes, and issues trikes for all kinds of bogus shit, their system is so incapable of nuance that “nuance” isn’t even the right word anymore. There’s no evil scheme to silence self hosting, just a horrible, miserably dysfunctional content moderation system that regularly trashes peoples livelihoods if it comes anywhere near prohibited topics.

        If the mistake causes a big enough problem they cares about, like bad publicity via a large channel complaining, they’ll probably fix it after a whole protracted mess of a situation. But if it doesn’t cause a problem for them it doesn’t get fixed. They just really suck at handling the scale of content they host.

        And I might empathize that it’s a hard thing to do, if they weren’t an effective monopoly and a horrible company.

    • clang@lemmy.zip
      0·
      13 days ago

      I agree with you and also YouTube’s real power is the network effect of literally everyone being there. I want so badly for something like Odysee to work but there’s just nothing there.