Classic example of "courts/lawmakers do NOT understand tech". I don't know why this is still as true as it was 10-20 years ago. You get such weird rulings that are maybe well-intentioned but are so off base on actual impact.
It is really nice to have someone to blame. And since things are going wrong (google results _are_ shitty) there is plenty going around. That said, just like no one person is responsible for the success of a company, no one person is responsible for its failure. This material is great for a movie, but not for critical thinking. It _is_ an entertaining read.
My biggest problem with it is that the author seems to be contradicting his own principles. In his about page, he says "Be respectful.". That doesn't apply to him apparently. There is no way he asked this Raghavan dude if he wanted to comment for the article.
I love the covid angle thrown in for dramatic effect-- "poor students wanted the parties to get over covid blues and look how the college is punishing them!! Evil College!" My immigrant 0.02$-- if you care about building a life, being a frat president or organizing parties are optional activities. But then again, I also don't get why college football coaches are paid more than CS professors...
Not all streaming providers do this. For example, if you buy a movie on Apple TV, you can download it. To me, that makes good on the "buy" agreement. Based on my last experience, I was trying to buy a movie that was available both on Amazon and Apple for the same price. The amazon version is bound by the EULA, and they don't let me download or play on non-DRM protected devices/apps. But Apple's was good. So I don't buy movies on amazon anymore.