YouTube and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule

[Gothamite]

Originally Posted by jeremydmc

It doesn't matter if "kids" find it engaging or not. It matters what an arbitrary government "auditor" classifies it as. You could get an auditor that says "This video is geared toward an adult collector." or you could get one that says "This is a cartoon/comic book related video that is for children."

nearmints page may never come under scrutiny but if it does it's up to someone else to decide what his videos should be categorized. If they decide all his videos are in the wrong category it can be 42K per video.

Youtube is basically saying. "It's all on you and we cannot give you any guide rules to go by other than hope you get it right or you will be in the poor house."

I think it is ridiculous but I personally wouldn't want to chance having the FTC arbitrarily fining me hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

It's not that arbitrary, and if an FTC auditor really did try to d!ck with people, all it would take is for an appeal and review to show that he/she didn't do his/her job properly. That auditor would then be fired.

[nearmint]

Originally Posted by Gothamite

It's not that arbitrary, and if an FTC auditor really did try to d!ck with people, all it would take is for an appeal and review to show that he/she didn't do his/her job properly. That auditor would then be fired.

Here's an excerpt from one of the many articles out there on this topic. It sounds like it wouldn't be so much an appeal, as taking on the federal government in court...

The consequences for not labeling a video as “child-directed” could be even more severe. In its September order, the FTC made it clear that it could sue individual channel owners who abuse this new labeling system. Crucially, those lawsuits will fall entirely on channel owners, rather than on YouTube itself. Under the settlement, YouTube’s responsibility is simply to maintain the system and provide ongoing data updates.

In a video explaining the changes to creators, YouTube explicitly declined to tell channel owners when to label a video. “Ultimately, we can’t provide legal advice,” it said. “We’re unable to confirm whether or not your content is Made for Kids. That decision is up to you taking into consideration these factors.” YouTube goes on to ask creators to consult with a lawyer if they need help determining whether their content appeals to younger audiences.

If the FTC does take action against channel owners, it’s likely to be both selective and heavy-handed. The FTC is a small agency and doesn’t employ nearly enough staffers to tackle every COPPA failure that gets uploaded to YouTube. (Chairman Joe Simons has repeatedly called for more money to address the staff shortage.) With so much content uploaded to YouTube every day, the FTC is likely to focus on high-profile cases against popular channels. Under COPPA, the FTC is entitled to seek $42,000 for each mislabeled video, which means monetary damages could quickly grow to a staggering scale.

[jeremydmc]

Originally Posted by Gothamite

It's not that arbitrary, and if an FTC auditor really did try to d!ck with people, all it would take is for an appeal and review to show that he/she didn't do his/her job properly. That auditor would then be fired.

OK, I defer to you. You seem to know more than I do about all of this. I thought it was more serious since Youtube is advising uploaders to consult an attorney if they are not sure how to classify their videos. Apparently it's not near as bad as the articles I have read make it out to be. The government is always easy to deal with if they do something incorrectly.

I do not upload content to Youtube so really have no dog in this fight. I was just bored at work today and read a lot.

[supermetroid]

Put a 15 sec intro to all your vids with a scantily clad hottie posing with your collection?

[Gothamite]

nearmint, this is the most important part of what you excerpted:

Originally Posted by nearmint

If the FTC does take action against channel owners, it’s likely to be both selective and heavy-handed. The FTC is a small agency and doesn’t employ nearly enough staffers to tackle every COPPA failure that gets uploaded to YouTube...With so much content uploaded to YouTube every day, the FTC is likely to focus on high-profile cases against popular channels.

They're not going to go after small fry like you, especially since it's immediately obvious to a reasonable person that children aren't your intended audience. They're going to go after the channels that clearly make money for the uploaders (such as the parents who use their kids to shill products that they get for free) or are clearly marketing/advertising fronts for businesses.

So again, if you want to "chicken little" your channel into oblivion, nuke your videos and stop worrying about it.

[ruzzell]

This is a very interesting topic. It doesn’t help that the term “toys” gets inserted into several of the companies and sellers names and websites. Also the history of comic book shops and larger retailers often lumping toys and high end collectibles together validates the hesitation to upload any video reviews that could be mistaken. Hopefully some nuance will be allowed for instead of heavy handed regulation.

[clutch]

So you are saying if I label a video for adults, it can still be viewed by a child.

Why should I be punished when a child is clearly breaking the rules?

[nearmint]

Originally Posted by clutch

So you are saying if I label a video for adults, it can still be viewed by a child.

Why should I be punished when a child is clearly breaking the rules?

Correct. A child could still view your video. YouTube is putting the onus on content creators rather than shouldering it themselves.

Fair? Absolutely not.

[FriendlySamurai]

Originally Posted by nearmint

As the entity collecting the data, youtube should be responsible for labeling its content, but they're passing the buck to content creators

Exactly. Even if we mislabel content it shouldnt even matter. Its like blaming the car accident on the guy who gave you bad directions. Labeling and mislabeling content isnt illegal. Youtube spying on kids is illegal.

[CommanderZx2]

This is pretty much about old media doing everything it can to lobby legislation to kill off user generated content. They're been on the go for quite a while now throwing everything they can at it to try and hurt youtube with things like attacking the advertising and so on.