GitHub Reinstates YouTube Downloading Project

GitHub challenges a removal request, Strava secures substantial funding, and Moderna announces encouraging outcomes from its COVID-19 vaccine trials. This is your Daily Crunch for November 16, 2020.

Leading news: GitHub restores YouTube downloading project

In October, the Recording Industry Association of America submitted a DMCA notice to GitHub concerning a project known as YouTube-dl, which enables users to download YouTube videos for offline access. The trade organization asserted that YouTube-dl both bypassed DRM protections and, within its documentation, encouraged the unauthorized copying of several well-known songs.

However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation sent a letter to GitHub questioning the RIAA’s claims and indicating that, among other points, it inaccurately describes the functionality of YouTube-dl’s code.

As a result, GitHub has reinstated the project’s code. The company also states it is reevaluating its approach to handling takedown requests going forward, establishing a $1 million developer defense fund and implementing technical and legal reviews for any future claims filed under section 1201 of the DMCA.

Major technology companies

Apple Podcasts can now be embedded on websites — Apple is simplifying the process of discovering and listening to podcasts through the web.

Apple’s IDFA faces scrutiny in EU privacy complaints — The complaints, filed with data protection authorities in Germany and Spain, allege that Apple’s implementation of the IDFA violates regional privacy regulations.

Spotify introduces a podcast playlist creation feature, ‘Your Episodes’ — This feature allows users to save individual episodes from any podcast, adding them to a dedicated “Your Episodes” playlist.

Startups, financing, and venture capital

Strava obtains $110M in funding, highlighting a growth rate of 2 million new users each month in 2020 — Strava currently has 70 million members, according to the company, with a presence in 195 countries worldwide.

Squarespace introduces support for memberships and exclusive, paywalled content — Squarespace’s new Member Areas enable businesses to charge for access to premium content.

Computer vision company Chooch.ai receives $20M in Series A funding — Chooch.ai aims to facilitate the wider adoption of computer vision technology by businesses.

Insights and analysis from Extra Crunch

Will edtech strengthen or diminish the role of traditional higher education? — With campuses closed, athletic programs suspended, and students understandably questioning the value of paying full tuition for reduced services, the future of higher education is being debated.

Three growth strategies that propelled us beyond Noom and Weight Watchers — Nutrition app Lifesum has acquired users at a rate almost double that of both Noom and Weight Watchers over the past year.

Analyzing the C3.ai IPO filing — C3 is in a strong financial position, demonstrating both increasing recurring software revenue and positive cash flow in certain periods.

(Note: Extra Crunch is our subscription service, designed to provide accessible information about startups. You can register here.)

Other news

Moderna reports its COVID-19 vaccine demonstrates 94.5% effectiveness in initial data from the Phase 3 trial — Shortly after Pfizer’s announcement regarding its COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, Moderna is also releasing positive results from its Phase 3 trial.

HBO Max becomes available on Amazon Fire TV devices — Existing HBO subscribers on Amazon will receive access to the HBO Max app at no extra cost as part of this new agreement.

Original Content podcast: ‘The Vow’ presents a complex portrayal of the NXIVM cult — The documentary is compelling but suffers from some narrative shortcomings.

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