Microsoft accidentally slapped an employee who posted a video on YouTube with a copyright warning as it tried to rumble “stolen” product keys on the platform.
Scott Hanselman, a Microsoft coder, tweeted on October 14 that his company sent him a notice-and-takedown message about a Windows 8.1 tutorial he posted on YouTube, before adding: “I kind of work for Microsoft.”
So Microsoft did a copyright takedown on my "How To use Windows 8.1" @youtube video. I kind of work for Microsoft. https://t.co/SDsFAJGbQr
— Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) October 14, 2014
His video was later removed from the platform.
The notice was one of several errant warnings Microsoft sent to people who had uploaded similar tutorials to YouTube.
Microsoft later tweeted to say some videos were inadvertently targeted because there were “stolen product keys embedded in the comments section”.
It appears some YouTube vids were inadvertently targeted for removal because there were stolen product keys embedded in the comments section
— Microsoft News (@MSFTnews) October 15, 2014
Further tweets followed, with the company saying it was addressing the YouTube notices “ASAP”, that it did not intend to target “great” content, and then that it had taken to steps to reinstate legitimate videos and is “working towards a better solution to targeting stolen IP”.
Using the hashtag ‘Microstopped’, and referencing one of the company’s tweets, Hanselman confirmed on October 15 that his video was back online.
Product keys, the alleged theft of which provoked action from Microsoft, are software-based instruments that verify that a copy of a computer program is original.
Microsoft; YouTube; copyright; notice-and-takedown; #Microstopped
