We Must Replace YouTube

So after reading this (www.abovetopsecret.com...) and related threads, I've noticed where it talks about videos of police brutality being rapidly removed from YouTube.

We cannot expect YouTube to be supportive of the public's political freedom. It is a subsidiary of Google, a corporation that can only be expected to co-operate with governments and other corporations to the hilt, as at times, we have already seen.

It is time to make a return to the original, decentralised protocols of the Internet, for video publishing. Even more than Bit Torrent, there must be a revival of protocols such as Internet Relay Chat and Usenet; protocols that are truly decentralised, and which the corporations and governments can have no control over.

Have none of you ever noticed the trend where Internet applications are concerned? In the beginning we had email, newsgroups, IRC. All three of these were decentralised; there was no central point of control, so because of that, the governments and corporations could not control them. They could not censor their traffic, and it was much more difficult for them to trace, suppress, or arrest individuals who did things which they did not like.

Now, on the other hand, we have Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Dropbox/Mediafire, and Web based forums. What do all of these applications have in common?

• They are centralised. There is a single point of control, which means it is easy for the corporations or governments to delete any traffic they do not want anyone else to see, or trace the people who published/uploaded it.
  
  With the older protocols, this was not the case. In terms of IRC or Usenet, individual servers were run by entirely different organisations, which were often non-profit, and the entire network was viewed as a neutral public resource. None of the organisations which ran individual servers, therefore had any control over the traffic of the network as a whole.
  
  
• They are corporate owned. Corporations are always going to co-operate with governments first and foremost in the repression of the people. Remember Mussolini's own definition of fascism as the merger of state and corporate power. Remember also, the willingness of mobile phone carrier Nokia to de-activate its' mobile coverage immediately on request of the Egyptian government during the revolution against Mubarrak, and Nokia's public defense of that action.
  
  
• In the case of Web-based forums, they allow repression and censorship of expression. When Usenet was used instead of Web-based forums, it was much less possible for anyone to censor or repress supposedly undesirable speech. About the only thing you could do was add someone's name to your own personal killfile, which would prevent you as a single individual from receiving what they wrote. There was no system-wide control, however.
  
  With Web-based forums, this is very different. I myself have recently been banned from two different forums, one of which was largely due to my continued objection to support from the other posters there, of repressive government behaviour. The staff of said forum didn't like that, so after some time, I was removed.
  
  
• They are Web-based. The single main reason why the World Wide Web has come to predominate over all other Internet protocols, is because of its' comparitive ease of use, which allows technophobic, lazy, and/or less intelligent users the ability to access the Internet in a convenient/instant gratification manner.
  
  As is usual for convenience, however, there is a price. That price is an increased level of centralisation, and because of that, a much lesser degree of resilience than the older Internet application protocols. It is much, much easier on the Web for repressive organisations, whether governmental or corporate, to remove material they dislike, and trace (and therefore retaliate against) individuals who attempt to publish it.
  

If you record video of police brutality, or have other information which you need the public to see, you cannot depend on any of these centralised, corrupt, corporate services to carry your data, and refrain from removing or destroying it on government request, or submit your identity to governmental agencies on request.

www.irchelp.org... - This is IRChelp.org, a website which can offer a large amount of information to users who are unfamiliar with Internet Relay Chat. IRC is an older, decentralised chat protocol, which was widely used in the early to mid 1990s, until it was usurped, first by corporate instant messaging programs, and later, by Twitter.

www.lifehacker.com.au... - How to get started with Usenet in three simple steps.

torrentfreak.com... - How to create torrents, so you can seed files with public or private torrent tracker sites, so that people can download your files.

If you don't know about these things, please take the time to learn about them. A time may very well come when YouTube cannot reliably be used as a medium for material which governments consider objectionable or undesirable at all. When that time comes, you will need to know how to use the alternatives.

I am unfortunately in the category of one who doesn't understand these things very well, but I have been very concerned about the direction of internet policing - so I will definitely take your suggestion and do my research - ed'cate myself a bit!!

Thanks for the thread and the opportunity to learn more. S&F.

reply to post by petrus4


awesome post; s & f for you. IMHO there are many online that are willing & able to take the next step and learn more about online workings, websites, software and hands-on PC repair/building. supplying the tools to the eager and willing is not only the right thing to do, it's a most excellent thing to do. the old saying about teaching a man to catch a fish fillet sandwich comes to mind.

sincere thanks for sharing this

You tubes awesome is the same as its downfall.

Big projects that become big companys are forced into certain obligations.

For example the country hosting it wouldnt want you to host propaganda aginst it (seems reasonable)

Unfortunatly the internet itself, the more serious you get, the more and more it falls into existing corperate models.

You may make a site wiht the best intentioned but there will become a time when someone can buy it from you and ruin it.

refuse and expect hired cyba attacks and such

We have assumed control.... Rush.. Cygnus X1

Having your own webpage or site does mean you can freely publicise any info or video completly free of cencorship or control.

That doesent however stop people having a problem with what you say or complaining about it. but as long as you are not really answerable to whatever company hosts your site who cares eh?

It's just a pity these days you have to pay to own a site in most cases. Freedom of speech still exists on the web, but only just, and it costs.

reply to post by petrus4


Replace YT?? Are you serious?? Currently YT is the most powerful media tool on the internet. There's no other way on turning out a subject into popular knowledge, easier and faster than through YT. It reaches world wide attention better than any other website. You are proposing that people should go back to IRCs, ICQs, Napster like clients, underground newsletters and stuff like that?? There are better ways of uploading sensitive videos on YT and still staying under the radar: Proxies, multiple accounts, uploading videos from public computers instead from home, avoid uploading videos straight from cellphones, avoid linking several social networks to a same account, keep a large web of contacts who keep forwarding the video in case of removing of the original material...

People WON'T seek for sensitive videos of quick consumption in torrent servers. If YT and most of modern social medias turned into CIA/NSA fronts, we must have extra-careful and develop our own sneaking tactics, IMO.

Double post.

I have said this before that you tube, censors footage, removes footage without explanation etc., But have been Shot down for it. This only proves the point I was making.

Starred and Flagged.

I would prefer to still be using Gopher, Archie (and Veronica) for my searches online. Ah, the good old days. Having everything available from one source (your browser) makes things simpler to find, but as the OP says, also makes things easier to control. If I am searching for anything on the internet, and it points to a you tube video, facebook or anything related to Google, I shut the computer off and will choose other avenues to persue.

snrRog

Originally posted by snrRog
I would prefer to still be using Gopher, Archie (and Veronica) for my searches online. Ah, the good old days. Having everything available from one source (your browser) makes things simpler to find, but as the OP says, also makes things easier to control. If I am searching for anything on the internet, and it points to a you tube video, facebook or anything related to Google, I shut the computer off and will choose other avenues to persue.

snrRog

just wondering, when you write "If I am searching for anything on the internet, and it points to a you tube video, facebook or anything related to Google, I shut the computer off and will choose other avenues to persue." Does that mean get the information you are seeking from newspapers, television and the library? Or by choosing other avenues to pursue, do you mean drop what you were after and instead spend time in a different leisure time hobby or interest altogether?

Originally posted by 1AnunnakiBastard
Proxies, multiple accounts, uploading videos from public computers instead from home, avoid uploading videos straight from cellphones, avoid linking several social networks to a same account

These things won't stop YouTube from removing videos.

Humanity's need for everything to be quick, easy, and convenient is going to be the death of it.

Originally posted by petrus4

Originally posted by 1AnunnakiBastard
Proxies, multiple accounts, uploading videos from public computers instead from home, avoid uploading videos straight from cellphones, avoid linking several social networks to a same account

These things won't stop YouTube from removing videos.

Humanity's need for everything to be quick, easy, and convenient is going to be the death of it.

Agreed, we have become a society that is willing to give up our freedoms for nothing more than convenience, and it is a world wide problem.

Originally posted by R_Clark
We have assumed control.... Rush.. Cygnus X1

wrong. We have assumed control is from 2112 where the temples were town down. Cygnus X1 is the black hole from Farewell to Kings which was continued with Hemispheres.

reply to post by LargeFries


I will visit the library. There is NOTHING that I have researched that has ever required a video or facebook page to find my answer, including how to's on home plumbing problems, roofing suggestions, saving energy solutions, automotive troubles, planting vegetables and more.

Looking into speculative subjects is another thing, which is why conspiracy sites are so popular, because anyone can post anything they want with no repercussion. To me this is the greatest interest in sites such as this, listening to everyone's ideas. Following the threads here is very entertaining. I have learned much from this site, from volcanic and earthquake activities, as well as there are some really incredibly intelligent people here, as well as the very bottom of the barrel. This deviation between users can really keep some threads interesting.

Anyway, my library card shows I'm a member since 1998 (this is when I moved to this town,) how about yours? I visit the library at a minimum of once per month. This is also about when the internet started to become too commercial.
I gave a computer to my friend in 1993, and told him with this, this is the end of the truth as you know it. He looked at me like 'huh? what are you talking about?' He now understands. Until books catch up with the ease of lying as a you tube video, I'll stay with them, thank you very much.
There is MUCH good online, but there is more bad.

snrRog

This concept is heavily flawed. IRC, Usenet and the likes simply cannot compete on the level of quick video presentation. People want graphics, video and news now not later. While IRC may offer real time time conversation it will never replace the likes of YouTube. There are numerous other video sites as well so blacklisting the biggest of them all is a waste of time. Plus many people have moved from the desktop and heavily embraced mobility. These ideas simply won't function well in that environment,

If content is filtered it will find its way onto the Net.

brill

Originally posted by brill
Plus many people have moved from the desktop and heavily embraced mobility. These ideas simply won't function well in that environment

I'm not sure what it is about wireless or being on a laptop, that prevents the use of IRC.

Also, the earlier part of your reply was another appeal to instant gratification. People need to start recognising, IMHO, that the need for instant gratification is a vice, not a virtue.

Originally posted by petrus4

Originally posted by brill
Plus many people have moved from the desktop and heavily embraced mobility. These ideas simply won't function well in that environment

I'm not sure what it is about wireless or being on a laptop, that prevents the use of IRC.

I was thinking more along the lines of smartphones. Most people are moving towards them. It's not a replacement for the desktop but the numbers indicate the change is moving rapidly. Regardless the masses want simple and fast.

brill

Agreed OP.

My account was banned from youtube due to posting a video from another site. After a few weeks of going without another account I tried to sign up under a new account and it let me get to the account but after that the account was removed. It seemed as if YouTube had blocked my IP from making a new one. I tried multiple times, BTW.

Luckily for me a friend made an account on his IP and now it works fine but just weird.

Originally posted by TheWorldSpins
It seemed as if YouTube had blocked my IP from making a new one. I tried multiple times, BTW.

Because YouTube is a service which everyone now uses, they operate under the assumption that if you are not able to yourself, you are essentially prevented from watching or producing video on the Internet, more or less entirely.

This is the precise reason why we need to come up with alternatives. Google has far too much power.