Some asshat submitted a "privacy" takedown of Jon Becker's video of our February edition of Blow Up. (Original video here.)

Youtube mailed me giving me the supposed opportunity to dispute this, and then completely disregarded my reply.

(The almost-unreadably incompetent formatting below is verbatim from the original. Google also fails at using email.)

From: "YouTube Support" <support@youtube.com>
Date: May 11, 2011 12:05:17 PM PDT
To: booking@dnalounge.com
Subject: Re: [#804172653] YouTube Support

Dear DNALounge, This is to notify you that we have received a privacy
complaint from an individual regarding your content:
------------------------------------------------------------- Video URLs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHBkGwOBCaY
The information reported as violating privacy is at 1:40-1:41
------------------------------------------------------------- We would
like to give you an opportunity to review the content in question and
remove any personal information that may be used to uniquely identify or
contact the complainant. You have 48 hours to take action on the
complaint. If you remove the alleged violation from the site within the 48
hours, the complaint filed will then be closed. If the potential privacy
violation remains on the site after 48 hours, the complaint will be
reviewed by the YouTube Team and may be removed pursuant to our Privacy
Guidelines (http://www.youtube.com/t/privacy_guidelines). For content to
be considered for removal, an individual must be uniquely identifiable by
image, voice, full name, Social Security number, bank account number or
contact information (e.g., home address, email address). Examples that
would not violate our privacy guidelines include gamer tags, avatar names,
and address information in which the individual is not named. We also take
public interest, newsworthiness, and consent into account when determining
if content should be removed for a privacy violation. If the alleged
violation is located within the video itself, you may have to remove the
video completely. If someone's full name or other personal information is
listed within the title, description, or tags of your video, you can edit
this by going to My Videos and clicking the Edit button on the reported
video. Making a video private is not an appropriate method of editing, as
the status can be changed from private to public at any time. Because they
can be turned off at any time, annotations are also not considered an
acceptable solution. We're committed to protecting our users and hope you
understand the importance of respecting others' privacy. When uploading
videos in the future, please remember not to post someone else's image or
personal information without their consent. For more information, please
review our Privacy Guidelines
http://www.youtube.com/t/privacy_guidelines.Regards,

The YouTube Team

Do not, repeat, do not blow hatch:

From: Jamie Zawinski <booking@dnalounge.com>
Date: May 11, 2011 12:36:32 PM PDT
To: YouTube Support <support@youtube.com>
Subject: Re: [#804172653] YouTube Support

There is no privacy violation in this video.

This was filmed at a nightclub, open to the public, with no expectation of privacy. It shows hundreds of people dancing in public. No single person is visible for more than two or three seconds.

In addition, anyone entering the club is clearly presented with this notice at the door:

By entering the premises, you hereby grant a license and permission to DNA Lounge or its designees, and its employees, successors, assignees, licensees and agents, to utilize your appearance, image, voice and likeness, in perpetuity, throughout the world in any and all manner and form and format of media, now known or hereafter devised, including but not limited to recordings, broadcasts or webcasts of the event that you are attending.

You release DNA Lounge and its designees, and each of their employees, successors, assignees, licensees and agents from and against any and all claims for invasion of rights of publicity, privacy, defamation, or other claims or causes of action arising out of the production, reproduction, distribution, broadcast, exhibition or other exploitation of the event you are attending.

Thank you,

Jamie Zawinski, owner, DNA Lounge

Roger, hatch blown:

From: "YouTube Support" <support@youtube.com>
Date: May 13, 2011 2:02:31 PM PDT
To: "Jamie Zawinski" <booking@dnalounge.com>
Subject: Re: [#804172653] YouTube Support

Hi there,

Thanks for your email.

We have removed the material in question for a privacy violation, pursuant
to our Community Guidelines.

It may take some time for video search results and thumbnail images to
disappear from the site. Typically, this should not take more than a
couple of days. Please be patient and be assured that the video is no
longer viewable.

For more information regarding our Privacy Guidelines, please visit:
http://youtube.com/t/privacy_guidelines.

Regards,

The YouTube Team

Fuck you very much, Google. Your policies are bullshit and your resolution protocol is worthless.

But at least they thanked me for my email!

The original video is viewable on Vimeo. Maybe it's time to switch to Vimeo for all of my online video usage, since apparently Youtube can't be trusted.

The takedown notice said the "violation" was from 1:40-1:41. The edits in this video are so fast that that two second period covers three edits! Google won't tell you who your accuser is, but assuming they didn't just make up those numbers, maybe the complainer is one of these people:

Update, May 25: Google relented and restored the video!