Google targets YouTube conversion site

Google has come under fire from content owners in the past over copyright infringement on YouTube, but it’s not afraid to take the fight to others. TorrentFreak reports that Google is threatening legal action against YouTube-MP3, a service that allows users to plug in a YouTube URL and convert the resulting audio to a downloadable MP3. Naturally, Google aren’t too happy about the service, saying it violates the Terms of Service for YouTube’s API.

Google targets YouTube conversion site

The website apparently rakes in around 1.3 million users per day, so you can imagine the sheer amount of material converted from YouTube’s servers. Harris Cohen, Associate Product Counsel at YouTube, says that the site is violating the Terms of Service by actively downloading content. Cohen goes on to say that “separat[ing], isolat[ing], or modify[ing] the audio or video components of any YouTube audiovisual content” is prohibited.

“Philip”, the owner of YouTube-MP3, sent a response back to Google detailing how popular the service is and the potential effects of closing it down via legal methods. The plea seems to have fallen on deaf ears, with YouTube-MP3’s servers being blocked from accessing YouTube.

While Philip argues that a shutdown would leave millions of users without any method of downloading MP3s from the service, Google will no doubt be feeling pressure from various copyright owners over such activities and has had to act accordingly. Google is also reportedly targeting similar services with legal action.