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Surgeons reattach boy’s three severed limbs

Tuesday, March 29, 2005A team of Australian surgeons yesterday reattached both hands and one foot to 10-year-old Perth boy, Terry Vo, after a brick wall which collapsed during a game of basketball fell on him, severing the limbs. The wall gave way while Terry performed a slam-dunk, during a game at a friend’s birthday party.

The boy was today awake and smiling, still in some pain but in good spirits and expected to make a full recovery, according to plastic surgeon, Mr Robert Love.

“What we have is parts that are very much alive so the reattached limbs are certainly pink, well perfused and are indeed moving,” Mr Love told reporters today.

“The fact that he is moving his fingers, and of course when he wakes up he will move both fingers and toes, is not a surprise,” Mr Love had said yesterday.

“The question is more the sensory return that he will get in the hand itself and the fine movements he will have in the fingers and the toes, and that will come with time, hopefully. We will assess that over the next 18 months to two years.

“I’m sure that he’ll enjoy a game of basketball in the future.”

The weight and force of the collapse, and the sharp brick edges, resulted in the three limbs being cut through about 7cm above the wrists and ankle.

Terry’s father Tan said of his only child, the injuries were terrible, “I was scared to look at him, a horrible thing.”

The hands and foot were placed in an ice-filled Esky and rushed to hospital with the boy, where three teams of medical experts were assembled, and he was given a blood transfusion after experiencing massive blood loss. Eight hours of complex micro-surgery on Saturday night were followed by a further two hours of skin grafts yesterday.

“What he will lose because it was such a large zone of traumatised skin and muscle and so on, he will lose some of the skin so he’ll certainly require lots of further surgery regardless of whether the skin survives,” said Mr Love said today.

The boy was kept unconscious under anaesthetic between the two procedures. In an interview yesterday, Mr Love explained why:

“He could have actually been woken up the next day. Because we were intending to take him back to theatre for a second look, to look at the traumatised skin flaps, to close more of his wounds and to do split skin grafting, it was felt the best thing to do would be to keep him stable and to keep him anaesthetised.”

Professor Wayne Morrison, director of the respected Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery and head of plastic and hand surgery at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital, said he believed the operation to be a world first.

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Summer Safety At Home, Lake Or Cottage For Your Kids

By Kerry A. Francis

Summer is a great time for children to be outside exploring and playing. Help them safe on their adventures by teaching them about electrical and natural gas safety.

If you are enjoying a breezy day flying a kite together, make sure that you are in a large open area, far away from overhead hydro power lines. Never use metallic wires as a kite string. Metallic balloons and model airplanes should be kept away from overhead lines.

There is no denying that children are climbers but teach them to stay away from the fences that surround electrical substations. The fences are there to keep people away from the dangerous high voltage equipment inside a local community power substation. .

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaCgFWjkFzI[/youtube]

Speaking of climbing, children should never ever climb on trees that are close to utility power lines. Nor should they climb utility poles. The only people allowed to climb should be the trained power utility employees. And if your child ever finds a poor animal stuck up on top of a power or utility power, be sure that they know not to rescue it themselves but to call the help line at the local power or Phone Company.

Padmount power transformers look like nice short metal filing cabinets on a cement slab to kids. Another fun toy to be a climbing play structure to many children. These padmounted power transformer boxes are locked to prevent people from coming into contact with the very dangerous and deadly high voltage equipment on the inside of the locked box. If you do spot a broken or compromised lock or a padmounted transformer with its door open stay away from it and report it immediately to the power utility and your local police.

And what is summer without water and swimming in the hot and humid weather. Whether it is at your own backyard, condo or apartment swimming pool, the lake or cottage camp or even the home bathtub, the dangers of water and electricity are all and always the same. Keep electric appliances, cords and toys away from any sort of water.

Similarly if cleaning be very careful of flammable cleaning solvents. Not only can these solvents cause intoxication from the fumes with kids but as well a spark or an open flame from a match can ignite the flammable fluids and even their vapor. Even the spark from an innocent light switch can ignite the vapor of a flammable cleaning fluid vapor. And never for convenience or just laziness on a long weekend, at the cottage, have lake or home used flammable gasoline as a cleaning fluid.

If a summer trip or outing takes you in the area of a power station , power dam or waterway always teach children about the dangers of swimming and boating in the vicinity of dam and to obey all warning signs , rules and regulations. Always stay away and clear of hydroelectric dams and power stations unless of course there are clearly indicated walkways and observation points.

Teaching children safety tips can help keep your children as well as their friends safe for their entire lives.

About the Author: Gimli CottageLake Manitoba PlotsSell Winnipeg House

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Wikinews interviews Flame about special effects at New Zealand’s Rock2Wgtn festival

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Across Easter weekend Wellington, New Zealand was host to Rock2Wgtn, an international two-day hard rock festival. Large crowds showed up at Westpac Stadium to see the various acts. The world has never seen an event of this kind before, and New Zealand has never had any kind of major rock festival or multi-day music festival.

Day one featured three theatrical acts. Finnish band Lordi, known for their monster costumes, opened the night. They were followed by the US shock rocker Alice Cooper, whose themed set included the horror theatrics regularly associated with him and a hanging stunt he recently restarted after a gallows collapse nearly killed him two decades ago. The night was headlined by the distinctively costumed band KISS, complete with their famed black-and-white makeup.

The first major act on the stage on day two was the American hard rock/glam metal band Poison. After Poison, British act Whitesnake took to the stage and performed their set to the crowd. British-born American rocker Ozzy Osbourne, who, as well as a solo career, fronts the world-famous Black Sabbath, was the second night’s headline act.

The festival’s entertainment did not stop at the six main acts. There was also support performances from three New Zealand bands – The Symphony of Screams, The Valves and Sonic Altar. Their sets were accompanied by a special effects package from award-winning studio Weta Workshops, who are known for their work on movies such as The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. This came in the form of ‘Drusila the Dragon’, which rose up to a height of six foot and wigspan and moved for the audience, shining lasers from its eyes and breathing red smoke. Flame Fire Productions were hired to put on a fire show featuring several dancers alongside the performers. Also performing were six local guitarists and a group of ‘zombie‘ cheerleaders.

Wikinews was able to secure two exclusive interviews with those responsible behind the scenes for putting on such a show. Weta Workshop’s Philip Sharpe, who supervised the project and Milly Bea, current manageress of Flame Fire Productions, discussed their roles. In the first installment, Milly Bea tells us about “a definite highlight” for Flame and lets us know everything from her thoughts on Gene Simmons’s tongue to just how much kerosene it takes to put on a fire show at a rock fest.

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Stem cell bills passed by US House and Senate

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 (HR810), approved by the US House of Representatives in 2005, gained a 63-37 approval in the Senate on July 17th, 2006, and will now be presented for presidential approval or veto.

Bill HR810 passed by the Senate as SB471, overrides the 2001 executive order signed by George W. Bush that banned funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for embryonic stem cell research of stem cell lines created after the executive order was issued. The new bill does not include a provision against privately funded research, which is legal under the law, only research funded by NIH.

The bill includes three ethical requirements for funded research. First, the stem cells were derived from human embryos that have been donated from in-vitro fertilization clinics, were created for the purposes of fertility treatment, and were in excess of the clinical need of the individuals seeking such treatment. Second, prior to the consideration of embryo donation and through consultation with the individuals seeking fertility treatment, it was determined that the embryos would never be implanted in a woman and would otherwise be discarded. And lastly, the individuals seeking fertility treatment donated the embryos with written informed consent and without receiving any financial or other inducements to make the donation.

President Bush is expected to veto the bill as early as today, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said the veto would be “pretty swift”. This would be President Bush’s first veto of his two terms in office.

As with any vetoed bill, a two-thirds majority of the House and Senate can override said veto, but the original vote (63-37) show that the Senate is more than likely to not get the override votes it would need. Even without the two-thirds original vote, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan has voiced support for a veto override.

Two other bills, S2754 and S3504, the Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act and the Fetus Farming Prohibition Act of 2006, respectively, were failed and passed in that order by the House of Representatives. S2754 was introduced to the House this afternoon and failed by a vote of 273-154, S3504 was passed unanimously by the House and is also expected to be on the President’s desk this morning.

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First winter snowfall in New Zealand

Saturday, June 4, 2005

Overnight Friday a Southerly storm brought snow to both the Southern Alps and the central North Island mountains of New Zealand for the first time this year, closing major roads and stranding travellers at the start of the Queens Birthday holiday weekend. Police and the AA urged motorists to drive with extra care and to the conditions this weekend.

In the North Island, State Highway 1 between Waiouru and Rangipo, the Desert Road was closed by deep snow at 3 PM on Friday afternoon. Other roads in the area, including other parts of State Highway 1 between Bulls and Turangi, State Highway 4, via National Park, and 49, via Ohakune, were closed at 8 PM.

These road closures stopped all traffic through the centre of the North Island. About 200 travellers were reported to have spent the night at the Waiouru Army Camp, being accommodated in the Marae and the Barracks. Grit trucks and snow ploughs worked overnight to clear the snow and reopen roads, with the Desert Road finally being reopened about 12:30 PM Saturday.

Together with a slip threatening to close State Highway 3 in the Manawatu Gorge and damage to State Highway 2 after floods in the Bay of Plenty a couple of weeks ago, the only reliable alternative route for travellers around the North Island was via Wanganui and Taranaki.

In the South Island, Police and the AA advised that chains were essential when travelling over the mountain passes.

Yesterday, Mount Hutt skifield announced it would be opening Saturday morning. Early Saturday morning, skiers were reported to be queuing at the gates of Mount Hutt skifield, eager to get the first opportunity to hit the slopes in 2005. Other South Island ski fields were also indicating June opening dates.

The weather outlook is for cold southerly winds and rain over the Queens Birthday holiday weekend, with snow down to 400m in the South Island.

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Plan Of Leasing A Property? Rent From A Multi Resident Landlord!}

Submitted by: Landlords Choice

In case you are renting, leasing from a multi-resident property owner, you may have some various clauses in your rental contract than if you were renting a house or an apartment. Many of these locations have security locks and are set up this way to protect the residents. If you give away more keys to close friends or family, the traffic can upset neighbors and the homeowner. Many of these areas are secure and people pay for the security in the rent. You will need to respect the property and not give out more keys than what is needed by your family. There are intercoms for guests to use when they pertain to visit.

If there is a boost in traffic, some other residents may see this as a security problem that can lead to you being definitely asked to leave the facilities. If you are leasing from a multi resident property owner, you should learn exactly what you can and can not do with the house and the building itself. You may find the rules and lease agreement has things listed that you may not be able to comply with while living there.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqmL1gArQ4M[/youtube]

Renting from a multi-resident home owner, you are going to have security, but you will certainly also have to allow for evaluations of the property. In one situation recently, a multi-resident property supervisor performed surprise assessments of all houses, searching for tidiness, undocumented pets, damaged houses and assessment of home appliances and floor covering. This was legitimate due to the fact that the leasing arrangement mentioned that the property manager could possibly evaluate the apartment at any time with no notice.

Due to the fact that this was an authorized contract, no person could deny accessibility to the property manager, who performed find some very fascinating problems and shapes. You have to know what you are signing and in case it is a multi-complex, you will definitely have a different kind of lease than with a single or duplex local rental. If you have no problems with surprise evaluations or adhering to strict guidelines then you would have not a problem residing in one of these apartments. You do have less security, but they are inexpensive places to lease.

Whenever you are renting out from a multi-resident property owner, you not only have to adhere to the rules, but you also need to be careful about your neighbors. Some homeowner place occupants in structures to watch on points as well as the property manager. This is usual method and can sometimes be a little discouraging. If may be possible that you are leasing near the residential property manger’s apartment and you are then planning to be seen and listened to all the time.

Generally there are not many multi facilities with privacy. It appears that every thing you do is under scrutiny. If your rental agreement says no pets, that normally relates to fish aquariums too. No overnight visitor means exactly that. Many people enjoy living in multi-resident buildings for the security, but they do have some collapses. You do need to follow the rules and agree to the proprietors demands and evaluations whenever they make a decision to do them.

About the Author: Having some extra property could be best for renting or leasing. Renting out your property would be great on these extra properties. You need to have information for landlords that would handle such great business.

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NASA’s InSight Lander makes it to Mars

Thursday, November 29, 2018

On Monday shortly before noon US west coast time (2000 UTC), NASA’s InSight lander successfully touched down on Elysium Planitia on Mars. It sent a signal beep and image of the surface of Mars to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

The lander used aerobraking with a heat shield, then a parachute and finally rockets to achieve a soft landing on the surface. It used similar entry, descent, and landing sequence to the Phoenix spacecraft.

Insight project manager Tom Hoffman said, “We hit the Martian atmosphere at 12,300 mph [miles per hour; 19,800 kilometres per hour], and the whole sequence to touching down on the surface took only [six and a half] minutes […] During that short span of time, InSight had to autonomously perform dozens of operations and do them flawlessly — and by all indications, that is exactly what our spacecraft did.”

InSight stands for Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport. The lander’s two-year mission is to assess what Mars is like underground, determining the planet’s heat flow and listening to the reverberations of groundquakes and meteorite impacts.

Acting director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division Lori Glaze said, “We’ve studied Mars from orbit and from the surface since 1965, learning about its weather, atmosphere, geology and surface chemistry […] Now we finally will explore inside Mars and deepen our understanding of our terrestrial neighbor as NASA prepares to send human explorers deeper into the solar system.”

InSight is expected to begin its mission in a few months, once it has placed the equipment on the surface of Mars. Its solar panels are now open, catching sunlight and powering the spacecraft. It is equipped to drive a device up to 16 feet (5 meters) down into Mars’s surface, a record for Mars probes. This is to help characterize heat flow from the planet. Insight also has ultra sensitive seismometers which it is to use to detect Mars earthquakes for the first time. By recording the seismic waves from these quakes, InSight would help scientists infer things about the interior of Mars, such as how seismically active it is. InSight has as single seismometer, with which NASA plans to assess signals from different types of vibrational wave, triangulate their sources, and so derive information about the planetary interior.

InSight was launched May 5 of this year and traveled reportedly 301,223,981 miles (somewhat over 484,773,000 kilometres) between planets followed by two suitcase-sized cube satellites called Mars Cube One, individually MarCO-A and MarCO-B, which relayed information to Earth during the landing process.

Previous successful landers on Mars include Viking 1, Viking 2, Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity, Phoenix, and Curiosity. Of these, only Curiosity is still in communication with Earth, after NASA lost communication with Opportunity in June. InSight’s landing spot in the Elysium Planitia is about 600 km from Curiosity’s landing site in Gale Crater.

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Alfresco Infrared Gas Bbq Grills And Replacement Grill Parts

By Jason Broderick

Infrared grills get their energy from natural gas or propane. This energy superheats a tile made of ceramic, causing the ceramic tile to give off infrared radiation that cooks food. The main benefit from using an infrared gas grill is that the heat is distributed uniformly throughout the cooking surface. The temperature reaches more than 900 degrees Fahrenheit, which allows the items to be seared quickly. With other types of grilling, hot air cooks the food. But instead of heating the air, the infrared radiation penetrates the food, heating it directly. Infrared grills have shorter pre-heating times, and the food gets less dried out than with other types of grills. Many people say that the food cooked on an infrared grill tastes somewhat like charcoal grilled food, but that it is juicier. Other great things about infrared grills include instantaneous ignition, uniform heating of the ceramic tile, and superior heat control.

Alfresco infrared gas grills have been around since 2000, when the company was founded to bring the great features of a professional kitchen to an outdoor setting. Alfresco’s grills lead the industry with 27,500 BTUs of power. They’re made form high-heat stainless steel, and the burners have a lifetime warranty. Alfresco’s hybrid infrared system brings the searing power of a commercial grade infrared broiler to the backyard. And they happen to look great, too, with hand-polished accents. Alfresco infrared grills were designed to be an integral part of a complete outdoor kitchen that’s designed for the best efficiency, great ergonomics, and a well-thought-out approach to food preparation. Alfresco allows outdoor chefs to have a top-end outdoor kitchen fit for a professional chef.

Alfresco’s open air kitchen refrigerators are all built with commercial stainless steel construction and doors with gaskets to seal out the outside environment. They’re made to fit underneath Alfresco grills and other outdoor Alfresco open air kitchen appliances. These refrigerators are designed to perform even in very high or very low temperatures. With adjustable wire shelves and a high velocity evaporator, Alfresco’s refrigerators bring true commercial quality to the open air kitchen. You can also buy an optional keg kit that turns an Alfresco outdoor under-counter refrigerator into a keggerator. Even if the outside temperature reaches 120 degrees, the inside of an Alfresco under-counter refrigerator remains a cool 37 degrees Fahrenheit. These refrigerators may be expensive, but that’s because they have to be designed and built to withstand the extremes that outdoor cooking can bring. They’re a great complement to an Alfresco infrared gas grill, because they can be installed right underneath or beside the grill for maximum convenience and efficiency when cooking outdoors.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlqes4WbVjc[/youtube]

The latest line of Alfresco infrared gas grills is the LX2. It comes in 30, 42, and 56 inch sizes, and offers the most advanced features of any gas grill on the market, even among commercial grills. It has professional features like flip-down control panels, integrated rotisseries, and the trademarked Neverstore Warming Rack, which is a specially engineered warming rack that has four adjustable height positions. It even has an “up” position that allows the use of the rotisserie without having to remove the rack. These are designed not only to impress the neighbors, but to impress even the world’s leading chefs.

Alfresco infrared gas grills are considered the best because they are made to high commercial quality standards, and no corners are cut for the home market. These grills are designed to be an integral part of an open air kitchen, so that cooking out doesn’t depend on the indoor kitchen for storage, warming, or refrigeration. Any outdoor kitchen has to be able to stand up to extreme weather conditions, and Alfresco products are specially designed to take whatever the outdoor environment dishes out, from extreme low to extreme high temperatures. From multi-use cookers to special “prep zones” to commercial quality refrigeration and grilling, Alfresco is designed to make the outdoor kitchen every bit as well-equipped as the best indoor kitchen.

Alfresco’s LX2 series features 27,500 BTU main burners, porcelain ceramic briquettes that are shaped to evenly distribute heat. The chain-driven rotisserie has a hidden built-in motor and roller bearings so that no counterweight is needed. The flush-mounted ceramic infrared burner provides direct high heat to lock in flavor and juices. An integrated smoker accommodates wood chunks for cold smoking, and the smoke ejector is designed to distribute smoke before rising so that food takes on an intense smoked flavor. The LX2 grills feature integrated high intensity halogen work lights, and as an option on the smaller models (and standard on the 56″ model) is the Sear Zone ceramic searing system. It preheats to 1,400 degrees in under 5 minutes and flash-caramelizes food.

Alfresco’s AGBQ series has a flush-mounted infrared rotisserie with an oversized spit rod and motor capable of turning more than 100 lbs. The Sear Zone as in the LX2 line is optional on smaller models and standard on the 56″ model. The main burners are made from high temperature stainless steel, resisting heat up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. They carry a lifetime warranty. They also come with electropolished solid stainless steel racks, and pyramid-style ceramic briquettes for even heat distribution. There is a removable drip tray for easy clean-up, and a convenient 9-volt ignition for easy starting. You can get the AGBQ line in built-in and cart models, and you have the option of integrated refrigeration.

Alfresco infrared gas grills, like Alfresco’s outdoor refrigeration and other outdoor kitchen appliances are commercial quality for the home. They aren’t just good “for a home grill,” they’re good period, appealing even to the world’s top chefs. Infrared grilling gives food a juicy, great taste and even heating. The grills heat up super fast, deliver the best quality food, and have numerous features that make the chef’s job more convenient with more options than ever. An Alfresco infrared gas grill is the heart of a great outdoor kitchen.

About the Author: Alfresco infrared grill and gas bbq grill replacement parts are available at rill-Repair.com with fireplaces, fire pits and custom bbq grill island summer outdoor kitchens built on site.

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Lineup coming together for Manchester United charity match

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Manchester United will be taking on eleven of the top players in Europe in a celebration match next Tuesday at Old Trafford, and the lineup for the European XI is coming together nicely. The game is a UEFA-Manchester United collaboration created to commemorate not only the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, but also the 50th anniversary of Manchester United entering into European club competitions. Funds raised in the match will go to support the Manchester United Foundation, which works with local charities as well as UNICEF to aid children in need. Italian Marcello Lippi will be in charge of coaching the European XI side, and his assistant will be Andy Roxburgh. Confirmed players have slowly been filing into the team, but with current Manchester United on-loan striker Henrik Larsson confirmed, the XI is now complete.

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Wikinews discusses DRM and DMCA with Richard Stallman after GitHub re-enables public access to youtube-dl

This article mentions the Wikimedia Foundation, one of its projects, or people related to it. Wikinews is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

On November 16, code-sharing and hosting service GitHub re-enabled the public access to youtube-dl repository, a software which can download videos from the internet via the command-line. This move comes after Mitchell Stoltz, a Senior Staff Attorney of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), sent a letter to GitHub on the behalf of youtube-dl’s maintainers. The repository was previously blocked on October 23, after GitHub received a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) take-down notice from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Started in July 2008, youtube-dl is a free/libré open source software written in Python which can download videos from various websites. Citing alleged violation of 17 U.S. Code § 1201 Circumvention of copyright protection systems, RIAA’s takedown notice had alleged youtube-dl was intended to circumvent the technological protection measures of streaming services and to redistribute music videos without authorisation. youtube-dl’s source code had a number of unit tests to check if the software works in different circumstances or not. Some of the test cases included URLs of some copyrighted songs.

In the letter to GitHub, EFF’s attorney Stoltz said “This file contains series of automated tests that verify the functionality of youtube-dl for streaming various types of video. The youtube-dl source code does not, of course, contain copies of these songs or any others […] the unit tests do not cause a permanent download or distribution of the songs they reference; they merely stream a few seconds of each song to verify the operation of youtube-dl. Streaming a small portion of a song in a non-permanent fashion to test the operation of an independently created software program is a fair use.” The letter stressed “youtube-dl does not decrypt video streams that are encrypted with commercial DRM technologies”.

The URLs to copyrighted songs were removed from the source code on November 16, and replaced with a test video that uploaded on YouTube by Philipp Hagemeister, former maintainer of youtube-dl. Philipp Hagemeister had previously spoken about the takedown with Wikinews.

youtube-dl comes with a small JavaScript interpreter where it acts as a web-browser would behave while receiving video data from the server. The script has “extractors” for various websites to handle videos from different sources. “Any software capable of running JavaScript code can derive the URL of the video stream and access the stream, regardless of whether the software has been approved by YouTube”, the letter read. It borrowed an analogy of Doors of Durin from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings for explanation: travelers come upon a door that has writing in a foreign language. When translated, the writing says “say ‘friend’ and enter.” The travelers say “friend” and the door opens. As with the writing on that door, YouTube presents instructions on accessing video streams to everyone who comes asking for it.

Hours after the public access was restored, Sergey M, one of the maintainers of youtube-dl wrote on GitHub, “We would like to thank @github for standing up for youtube-dl and making it possible to continue development without dropping any features. We appreciate [GitHub] for taking potential legal risks in this regard. We would also like to thank [EFF] and personally [Mitch Stoltz] for invaluable legal help. We would also like to heartily thank our main website hoster Uberspace who is currently being sued in Germany for hosting our essentially business card website and who have already spent thousands of Euros in their legal defense.”

Hours after GitHub restored the public access to the repository, Stoltz tweeted “I think of youtube-dl as a successor to the videocassette recorder. The VCR empowered people to take control of their personal use of free-to-air video, but it had to be saved from the copyright cartel. The same goes for youtube-dl. GitHub did the right thing here.”

youtube-dl is used by thousands of people around the world. Multiple Creative Commons-licensed and public domain videos on Wikimedia Commons are uploaded via a tool called video2commons, which relies on youtube-dl to download media. youtube-dl also lets users download videos from LiveLeak — a video-sharing platform for citizen journalism. Videos downloaded using youtube-dl are also used for the purpose of fair use, or for evidence. When a copyright holder chooses to release their work, be it a photograph, a video, or audio, under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, they allow everyone to freely own, share or modify the work as long as the reusers properly attribute the author of the work. YouTube also hosts many audio and video recordings in the public domain which can be used for any purpose without any restrictions.

In the blog post announcing “youtube-dl is back”, GitHub said, “Although we did initially take the project down, we understand that just because code can be used to access copyrighted works doesn’t mean it can’t also be used to access works in non-infringing ways. We also understood that this project’s code has many legitimate purposes, including changing playback speeds for accessibility, preserving evidence in the fight for human rights, aiding journalists in fact-checking, and downloading Creative Commons-licensed or public domain videos.”

GitHub also announced any new 1201 takedown notices will be “carefully scrutinised by legal experts” to reject “unwarranted claims”, and said it will side with software developers if the claims are ambiguous. The announcement also mentioned GitHub Trust and Safety team would treat developer’s tickets as a “top priority”. GitHub also pledged donation of USD 1 million for developer defense fund “to help protect open source developers on GitHub from unwarranted DMCA Section 1201 takedown claims”.

GitHub had blocked public access to many forks of youtube-dl upon receiving the DMCA notice in October. Wikinews notes public access is not yet restored for the forked repositories listed in RIAA’s copyright notice and still displays “Repository unavailable due to DMCA takedown”.

During the period when GitHub had disabled public access for the repository, Sergey M had been developing youtube-dl and hosting it on GitLab, another code-sharing and hosting site. However, since GitHub has restored public access of youtube-dl, Sergey M has made the GitLab repository private.

After this, Wikinews reached out to Richard Stallman, the founder of Free Software Foundation, who has been highly critical of DRM (digital rights management, the subject of the DMCA) for many years now, to discuss the harms of DRM and DMCA 1201.

[edit]

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