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Monday, November 16, 2020 â¢ By Anthony Ha

GitHub defies a takedown order, Strava raises a big round and Moderna reports promising COVID-19 vaccine results. This is your Daily Crunch for November 16, 2020.

The big story: GitHub reinstates YouTube downloading project

Back in October, the Recording Industry Association of America sent a DMCA complaint to GitHub over a project called YouTube-dl, which allows viewers to download YouTube videos for offline viewing. According to the trade group, YouTube-dl both circumvented DRM and, in its documentation, promoted the piracy of several popular songs.

However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation sent GitHub a letter criticizing the RIAA’s argument and suggesting that, among other things, it mischaracterizes how YouTube-dl’s code actually works.

In response, GitHub has restored the project’s code. It also says it’s rethinking how it will handle takedown notices in the future, with a new $1 million developer defense fund and the response of technical and legal review of any future claims filed under section 1201 of the DMCA.

The big story: GitHub reinstates YouTube downloading project image

Image Credits: Michael Short/Bloomberg / Getty Images

Application Development: Are You Making the Right Investments for Speed?

The tech giants

You can now embed Apple Podcasts on the web â Apple is making it easier to discover and listen to podcasts via the web.

Appleâs IDFA gets targeted in strategic EU privacy complaints âÂ The complaints, lodged with German and Spanish data protection authorities, contend that Appleâs setting of the IDFA breaches regional privacy laws.

Spotify adds a built-in podcast playlist creation tool, âYour Episodesâ âÂ The feature lets you bookmark individual episodes from any podcast, which are then added to a new âYour Episodesâ playlist.

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Startups, funding and venture capital

Strava raises $110M, touts growth rate of 2 million new users per month in 2020 âÂ Strava has 70 million members already according to the company, with presence in 195 countries globally.

Squarespace adds support for memberships and paywalled content âÂ Squarespace’s new Member Areas allow businesses to charge for access to exclusive content.

Computer vision startup Chooch.ai scores $20M Series A âÂ Chooch.ai hopes to help companies adopt computer vision more broadly.

Startups, funding and venture capital image

Image Credits: Strava

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch

Will edtech empower or erase the need for higher education? â Campuses are closed, sports have been paused and, understandably, students donât want to pay the same tuition for a fraction of the services.

Three growth tactics that helped us surpass Noom and Weight Watchers âÂ Over the past year, nutrition app Lifesum has acquired users at nearly twice the rate of both Noom and Weight Watchers.

Unpacking the C3.ai IPO filing âÂ C3 is actually in pretty good financial shape, generating both growing recurring software revenues and cash in some quarters.

(Reminder: Extra Crunch is our membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here.)

Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch image

Image Credits: Getty Images

Everything else

Moderna reports its COVID-19 vaccine is 94.5% effective in first data from Phase 3 trial âÂ Following fast on the heels of Pfizerâs announcement of its COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, Moderna is also sharing positive results from its Phase 3 trial.

HBO Max arrives on Amazon Fire TV devices â As a part of the new deal, existing HBO subscribers on Amazon will be able to use the HBO Max app at no additional cost.

Original Content podcast: âThe Vowâ offers a muddled look at the NXIVM cult â It’s a fascinating documentary hampered by some unfortunate storytelling choices.