GitHub challenges a removal order, Strava raises a big turn, and Moderna reports promising COVID-19 vaccine results. This is your Daily Crunch for November 16, 2020.
The big story: GitHub restores the YouTube download projectIn October, the Recording Industry Association of America filed a DMCA complaint with GitHub about a project called YouTube-dl, which allows viewers to download YouTube videos for offline viewing. According to the commercial group, YouTube-dl bypassed DRM and, in its documentation, promoted the piracy of several popular songs.
However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation sent GitHub a letter criticizing the RIAA's argument and suggesting that, among other things, it incorrectly characterizes the actual functioning of YouTube-dl code.
In response, GitHub rolled back the project code. It also says it is rethinking how it will handle takedown notices in the future, with a new $ 1 million developer defense fund and the technical and legal review response to any future claims filed under section 1201 of the DMCA.
The tech giantsYou can now embed Apple Podcasts on the web - Apple is making it easy to discover and listen to podcasts over the web.
Apple's IDFA Is Targeted In Strategic EU Privacy Complaints - Complaints, filed with German and Spanish data protection authorities, claim Apple's setting of IDFA violates regional laws on privacy.
Spotify adds a built-in podcast playlist creation tool, "Your Episodes" - the feature lets you tag individual episodes from any podcast, which are then added to a new "Your Episodes" playlist.
Startups, financing and venture capitalStrava raises $ 110 million, drives growth rate of 2 million new users per month in 2020 - Strava already has 70 million members according to the company, with presence in 195 countries globally.
Squarespace Adds Support for Paywalled Content and Subscriptions - New Squarespace Member Areas allow businesses to pay for access to exclusive content.
Computer Vision Startup Chooch.ai Earns $ 20 Million Series A - Chooch.ai hopes to help companies adopt computer vision more broadly.
Tips and analysis from Extra CrunchWill Edtech strengthen or cancel the need for higher education? - Campuses are closed, sports have been suspended and, understandably, students don't want to pay the same tuition for a fraction of the services.
Three Growth Tactics That Helped Us Overcome Noom and Weight Watchers - Over the past year, the Lifesum nutrition app has acquired nearly twice as many users as Noom and Weight Watchers.
Unpacking C3.ai's IPO Statement - C3 is actually in pretty good financial condition, generating both recurring revenue from growing software and cash in a few quarters.
(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our membership program, which aims to democratize startup information. You can sign up here.)
All the restModerna Reports Its COVID-19 Vaccine Is 94.5% Effective In Early Phase 3 Study Data - In the wake of Pfizer's announcement of its COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, Moderna also shares positive results from its phase 3 study.
HBO Max Comes to Amazon Fire TV Devices - As part of the new deal, existing HBO subscribers on Amazon will be able to use the HBO Max app at no additional cost.
Original Content Podcast: "The Vow" Offers a Confused Look at the NXIVM Cult - It's a fascinating documentary hampered by some unfortunate narrative choices.
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