Microsoft ‘inadvertently’ targets YouTube videos for having stolen product keys in the comments section

Apparently, numerous people are receiving copyright infringement notices from Microsoft regarding videos uploaded to YouTube. This created a bit of fuss on the internet as people began wondering why Microsoft would issue these notices for videos that involved Windows 8, or various other Microsoft products.

Turns out, Microsoft targeted some of these videos for having stolen product keys embedded in the comments section. Microsoft had no intention of targeting legitimate YouTube content. 

“While we are still investigating the recent YouTube takedown notices, it appears some of these videos were inadvertently targeted for removal because there were stolen product keys embedded in the comments section of the videos. Our intention was not to target legitimate YouTube content and we are sorry for the impact this has had.  We have already taken steps to reinstate legitimate video content and are working towards a better solution to targeting stolen IP while respecting legitimate content.” – Microsoft spokesperson

And this statement makes perfect sense and brings this issue to light. Majority of the videos that were affected dealt with tutorials for Windows 8. In the comments section, there is always some idiot who will post a retail key or link to download a retail version of the operating system. I’ve personally caught these types of comments in stories we have written here and have removed them immediately.

Take Scott Hanselman for example, he is a Microsoft employee who posts helpful content on YouTube. He was also targeted with the copyright infringement notice — a process that is typically automated.

So, if you were affected by this, now you know why. We highly suggest you check the comments section of your YouTube video content and remove the illegal comments. You can read our original story about this issue right here.

Further reading: Microsoft, Windows, YouTube