For once, I hope Verizon wins
For once, I hope Verizon wins
Love the handle, BTW. :)
I think downloading is against Google’s TOS. Whether that makes it illegal is a question for a lawyer.
I’ve never used a VPN with it either. But it should work, especially with an exit node in a country where Google has no incentive to/is prohibited from interfering with third party viewers.
I’m not suggesting that you should. But if the government that controls a TLD is not trusted, then no site under that TLD should be trusted either.
If you trust the government that controls a TLD, then use the site. If not, proceed with caution.
Good to know. Thanks!
It would also be nice if there were a way to use them anonymously. ChatGPT seems to allow this, but I’m not entirely comfortable with OpenAI.
Google are trying their best to make YouTube unusable. They’re about to succeed.
Came here to say this
Ummm, have these numbnuts never heard of a VPN?
I don’t miss Reddit. Full stop.
Exactly.
It’s much the same as creators in Second Life who don’t want to sell in the Opensim metaverse. I get where they’re coming from in terms of protecting a recurring revenue stream, but if the customer has already paid for the product once, under first sale doctrine, they have the right to continue using it.
Hence “and enjoy it whenever and wherever I want.” If they maintain control, it’s not sold. It is, at best, rented.
Fortunately, there are often tools to enforce the first sale doctrine.
And this is why I never “buy” media online. If I can’t own the media and enjoy the content whenever and wherever I want, it’s rented. I may be ok with that, but I never let them claim that it was a sale.
Simple common sense suggests that rented (subscribed) software of any kind is likely a very bad deal for the consumer. Rental where all the control rests with the publisher and not the user or creator (a la Steam) is just as bad.
Before big publishers emerged, we had exactly the try-before-you-buy situation you describe. It was called shareware. It had excellent quality control since any game that didn’t hold the player’s attention didn’t generate income. And the creator got all the revenue rather than the publisher and distributors keeping 80-90% or more.
These days, I just settle for waiting until a game appears on GOG. It’s a decent compromise.
If I’ve paid for it once, but the Powers That Be make it unavailable or want to charge again to continue using it, I have no problem with finding a copy that works to make my purchase whole.
I don’t even consider this piracy. It’s just using the web as it was intended.
I’d feel worse if they didn’t so richly deserve it.