Second update 4/23/2009:

Got an email stating the obvious…yes indeed, the channel was back.  Name at the end was a new one, “John”.

Hi there,

Thanks for your email.

As requested I have reinstated your account. You should be able to login
again.

If you forgot your password, please click on this link to reset it:

http://www.youtube.com/forgot.php

Regards,

John
The YouTube Team

I then received an email with a survey about how this all went down.

And yes, I’m going to fill it out in full detail. Still no official response from youtube, nothing on their twitter, blog or anywhere else. Congratulations YouTube…you’ve failed, hard and fast.

If you need someone to advise you on how to respond to issues, concerns and troubles, ask Twitter. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Youtube loses to Twitter. How sad is that?

Pretty sad.

Update:

5awesomepeople is back. But it looks like others were hit. Mostly other 5awesome nerdfighter collaborative channels were apparently hit. Someone is alleged to have auto flagged them.

I’ve still had not had a response from my earlier email. The @youtube Twitter account has been silent all day. Nothing personal Youtube, but you botched it. Screwed the pooch. You jacked a part of your community. I’m annoyed that there have been no definitive answers since a large group was affected.

The fact that this is somehow allowed to happen without a reason/transparency is the most upsetting part. I know 5AwesomePeople isn’t a partner. We’ve not even crossed 115 subscribers. But we’re a collab channel with over 300 videos that has the involvement of seven people who care about it deeply. Trying to get in touch with Youtube was a pain in the arse in the first place.

Navigating the help site was not helpful. Getting the form letter email that told me basically, “You’re screwed, I won’t tell you why….oh and YOU CAN’T PLAY IN THE PLAYGROUND ANYMORE!” was very telling.

Youtube, I want an answer as to why this happened. I want to know how someone is able to level entire channels without nary an explanation.  So help me if you reference your TOS…

As a small voice in the crowd, I don’t expect a response. It doesn’t mean I’m going to shut up about it.

Irritatedly Yours,

Aaron

Earlier Today Before We Were reinstated…

I’m annoyed. I’m angered. I’m shocked. I’m a little peeved.

My collaborative channel with over 300 videos that’s been going for a year and a half has been permanently deleted due to what is described in the email below as “Community Guidelines”. Translated “5awesomePeople” is dead for the moment and YouTube zapped it without prior warning. Our account was in good standing, had only violated copyright on music once or twice that we immediately corrected. I repeat. Youtube, WHAT THE FRACK?!

Hi 5awesomepeople,

Thanks for your email. Your “5awesomepeople” account has been found to
have violated our Community Guidelines. Your account has now been
terminated. Please be aware that you are prohibited from accessing,
possessing or creating any other YouTube accounts.

YouTube staff review flagged videos 24 hours a day, seven days a week to
determine whether they violate our Community Guidelines. When a video or
account is brought to our attention we investigate and take action if
necessary.

We are unable to provide specific detail regarding your account suspension
or your video’s removal. For more information on our what we consider
inappropriate content or conduct while using YouTube, please visit our
Community Guidelines and Tips at
http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines and our Help Center article
at http://help.youtube.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=92486.

My response is below. Please YouTube, help me understand what is going on here.

Youtube Support,

This was a collab channel with over 300 videos. We had not had any
troubles aside form minor copyright issues, which we resolved. We
just started season 2. You’re telling me that you are unable to tell
me what caused a over two year old channel to be permanently deleted?
I need a better answer than this form letter of an email.

Please help me. This channel means so much to the seven of us and
over 100 subs. I know we’re not a partner or even that big. But this
feels like there is a misunderstanding of some kind.

Thank you,

Aaron DeLay