Mr. 1938 Media Loren Feldman reports that he had all of his YouTube accounts nuked over including some content that MLB didn’t like. He didn’t come out and say “copyright infringement” but it sounded that way to me. Why he had all his YouTube accounts tied into the same email address is also a bit mystifying, but what’s done is done.

Looks like I only had one of his YouTube videos embedded here and to locate I conducted a search for “Loren Feldman.”

This has been one of my ongoing concerns with embedding third party content using third party hosting: that the links will be broken at some point in the future, thus impacting our archives. It sucks.

This is why I’m not a big fan of short posts with links to third party videos and nothing else. Add some context around third party content and don’t just say: here’s this cool video, check it out. If the third party gets their account nuked like Feldman did, then there goes the value in your archived page. Fortunately, the one post I used for his video, it was more like window dressing than main course, but I’ve used other video embeds in shorter posts here and it’s something I’m trying not to do any more.

Loren is working on a solution and will convert the links but again he’s going with PodTech.net and not his own hosting? Loren, pony up for some hosting already. Libsyn can host your 300-500 videos as a first party option and that’s what we’ve been doing here with our Hmmcasts. At least this way people can reliably link to your content going forward. You have to think some people are going to think twice about embedding anything from you going forward that isn’t first party hosted.

And what happens if your gig at Podtech goes haywire? What if Scoble or Furrier decide they don’t want your content there? What if they run out of money (more likely)? Then everybody’s links are broken again? Shame on us once, not twice. No more 1938 Media video embeds here until Loren and company get some type of first party hosting.

You know how much we pay for Libsyn hosting every month for the videoblogging and podcasting? $10 per month. It’s $120 a year to have a first party system in addition to the third party video streaming shared in posts. Sounds like 1938 creates more content than here and maybe they’ll pay a little more, but we’re not talking about that many dollars for peace of mind.

Almost every time I link up a third party hosted video the thought that the content could go away skitters across my brain. It’s like linking up some newspaper stories where they employ dynamic links. When/if I come across these types of links I do not link to them again until they provide static links.

In the web world built on links the most reliable content out there to link is usually your own.

• YouTube adds record directly in browser feature via Flash
• Feldman’s Kramer-Imus-like meltdown results in PodTech separation by “mutual agreement”
• Random stumbling video not as attractive as websites
• When 3rd party links are changed and broken
• Textamerica linkrot, going commercial only, closing accounts, redirecting links
• Podtech sheds famous Scobleizer troll Coulter, beds Feldman