Downloading from Youtube could soon become illegal

You may soon be prevented from downloading videos from Youtube following legal action from record companies.

Under existing law, broadband providers can be forced to block customers from visiting sites that offer illegal downloads or streaming of copyrighted content. It’s why for example you can no longer access torrent- sharing sites such as The Pirate Bay. Over 100 similar sites have been blocked.

Record companies, represented by the British Recorded Music Industry Ltd (BPI) and Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL), now want providers to extend that ban to online tools that make it easy for you to download videos from sites like Youtube.

This process, often called ‘stream ripping’, has become increasingly popular as more tools emerge to simplify the process. These include flvto.biz and 2conv.com, which are both under threat from legal action in the US.

If the companies are successful, these and many other sites will be blocked by the UK’S six biggest providers: BT, EE, Plusnet, Sky Broadband, Talktalk and Virgin Media.

The record labels say the stream-ripping sites allow users to create pirated copies of official music and videos, which is forbidden by the Copyright Act. As such, they say the sites hosting these tools should be held liable for infringement of copyright.

The High Court has yet to rule on the case, but its verdict is likely to rest on whether the sites explicitly state that the tools can be used for downloading copyrighted material.

Read our next Cover Feature, out on Weds 10 March: Download Youtube and iplayer (while you still can)