The article conflates ContentID (which is <i>not</i> the DMCA notice&#x2F;counternotice process) with the DMCA process. ContentID, AFAICT, doesn&#x27;t follow the DMCA rules, and doesn&#x27;t provide either side of the DMCA safe harbor -- OTOH, since its more favorable to the participants (who are the copyright holders most likely to file costly suits) it is just as good for the infringement liability side of the safe harbor, and, for the counternotice side, losing the safe harbor against users isn&#x27;t important, because Google has structured there terms of service (like <i>every other provider</i>) to minimize the possibility that there would ever be liability to a user for taking down content or even shuttering an account, so there is no <i>need</i> for that side of the safe harbor.