Microsoft has sparked fury among the faithful following a DMCA takedown trawl that snared innocent Windows bloggers.

The company was put on the defensive and forced to apologise after loyal podcasters and video bloggers received takedown warnings and had their YouTube accounts suspended for claimed copyright infringement of Windows.

Those caught in the trawl included respected Windows nerds Bruce Naylor of FrugalTech, SoldierKnowsBest’s Mark Watson and Chris Pirillo.

The takedowns single out comment and advice videos containing material concerning Windows 7 and Windows 8, going back several years.

Pirillo has now started a Twitter “thing” using the hashtag #MicroStopped to collect further reports.

FrugalTech's Naylor has already posted a video speculating that the problem could have been his use of a custom thumbnail from a Windows 8 start screen in a piece called “Why Windows 8 is failing in the market.”

But the visibly shaken Naylor has warned that Microsoft could be clamping down on criticism of Windows and warns others to speak out against Microsoft.

Youtube Video

Pirillo echoed this sentiment in a comment on Naylor's YouTube video. "They're going after ANYTHING with "Windows" in the title, it seems. My video was on a completely benign topic - not a review: "Windows 7 Upgrade or Anytime Upgrade?" Video ID: kUtY1AFZGTI - and I'm the type of person who intentionally avoids music, sounds, video, images, etc," he wrote. "WARN ALL THE TECH YOUTUBERS THAT THEY MIGHT WANT TO STOP TALKING ABOUT WINDOWS."

Microsoft is now frantically scrambling to reverse the notices and re-instate suspended accounts. It's also taken to Twitter to restore calm.

@MSFTnews, Microsoft's official news account on Twitter, called the take downs a mistake.

We're looking at the YouTube notices ASAP. It is NOT the intent to target great content! — Microsoft News (@MSFTnews) October 15, 2014

Microsoft said it has now “taken steps to reinstate legit video content an working towards a better solution to targeting stolen IP.”

“It appears some YouTube vids were inadvertently targeted for removal because there were stolen product keys embedded in the comments section,” Microsoft tweeted.

Pirillo tweeted he appreciated Microsoft actions but warned YouTube needs better tools as the videos were flagged thanks to the comments.

The damage in terms of goodwill in the community and its credibility will be harder to repair. Among the #MicroStopped tweets were the following:

Dear @Microsoft If you wanted people to trust you after buying @Mojang, attacking creators on @YouTube is not the best idea #MicroStopped — Timmy (@TimmyTechTV) October 14, 2014

and:

Seriously @microsoft This is extremely petty stuff. PR mistake of enormous proportions. #Microstopped pic.twitter.com/N3px7hAKU4 — Fluctibus Fludd (@FluctibusFludd) October 14, 2014

and:

Microsoft is being even more rediculous than usual with all this youtube flagging lately... #microstopped — Efrain M Quihuis III (@Theonetruebeast) October 15, 2014

It’s the second time this year Microsoft has been tripped up by overzealous and draconian legal actions.

In July it took out the world’s largest dynamic DNS provider, Vitalwerks Internet Solutions, owner of No-IP.com. Taking No-IP.com claimed four millions users. The grab was an attack by the company on two of the internet's biggest botnets.

Within days, Microsoft had realised its mistake and reversed course by returning control of domains and putting out a statement admitting Vitalwerks was not “knowingly involved” with the offending subdomains. ®