One of the Internet's most prolific pranks, the Rickroll, has died. Over the years, the bait-and-switch tactic sent upwards of 30 million unsuspecting users to the YouTube version of Rick Astley's 1987 song Never Gonna Give You Up. Never been Rickrolled before? Now you have--but not on the original version.
That's why bloggers are grieving. They're upset that the original YouTube video--used in millions of jokes--was pulled down due to a terms-of-use violation. Here's how bloggers are venting their misery:
- Rickrolling Good for Everyone, mopes Dwight Silverman at the Houston Chronicle: "Yes, this was copyrighted material posted to the Web, but it had been viewed more than 30 million times. The rickrolling phenomenon had made the song popular again, turning a one-hit wonder into a - cough - timeless classic. Its presence on YouTube was definitely of benefit to the copyright holders."
- More Than Just an Internet Prank, sobs Brennon Slattery at PC World: "It was used during protests against the Church of Scientology, touched upon the First Lady, and even gave name to an iPhone virus that changed jailbroken iPhone backgrounds into images of Astley ... But it's all over now, baby blue. Time to dust off the Keyboard Cat videos."
- Loss Undermines Trust in the Web, insists Jack Schofield at The Guardian: "The problem is that removing the D version breaks a large number of internet links, and there's no way to repair the damage short of YouTube reinstating the missing video. Also, that kind of thing ultimately reduces trust in the net..."
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John Hudson
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