I’m quite used to hearing that Microsoft has annoyed someone.

Usually, it’s a Windows user who’s angry about Redmond’s keenness to slip unwanted products onto their screens.

I was rather moved, then, to hear that Microsoft itself is enduring conniptions of the most fundamental kind.

You see, the company recently commissioned research company YouGov to ask 5,000 registered voters about their innermost feelings. One or two deeply felt highlights emerged.

90% of respondents admitted they’re worried every time they share their information online. 

70% privately pointed their fingers at the US government. They said it isn’t doing enough to protect their personal data.

A simliar 70% said they’d like to see the next administration enact privacy legislation.

How do I know this made Microsoft angry? Well, these details come from a bracingly seething blog post — published this week — from the company’s “Corporate Vice-President

Microsoft-owned GitHub has removed today 18 projects from its code-hosting portal following a legal request filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

All the code repositories removed today are related to the youtube-dl project.

Youtube-dl is a Python library that allows developers to download the source audio and video files behind YouTube videos.

In a letter sent to GitHub, RIAA argued that the “clear purpose of this source code [the youtube-dl library]” was to “circumvent the technological protection measures used by authorized streaming services such as YouTube” and to allow users to “reproduce and distribute music videos and sound recordings […] without authorization.”

RIAA noted that the project’s source code “expressly suggests its use to copy and/or distribute the following copyrighted works.”

RIAA, a trade organization that claims to represent around 85% of all the US recording industry, requested that GitHub removed the youtube-dl