A little while back, I decided that moving some of my video content to Archive.org's servers would improve the quality of the video playback for my small handful of visitors. Although my hosting service does allow me to share audio and video content on my site, it is a little slow on the streaming/buffer side. I thought Archive.org was a good option (I downright refuse to use YouTube due to their user policies), as it's embedded video player performed better.

However, not too long ago, Archive.org got hacked and their content sharing service has been down for a while. Even now, services are limited and I'm still locked out of my account and from the content I've uploaded.

Although the content I host on my own domain is a little slow on its delivery, at least it was still view-able. So, my fundamental belief that it's better to host your own information, rather than rely on a third party (especially a “free” service, like Archive.org, YouTube, or other streaming service), seems to have proven itself once again.

This is also why I insist on using my own server for important emails and file sharing… I just don't trust the “free” service providers to continue to deliver; or to do so without constantly changing their user policies, pushing their own agendas on to how I conduct my own business. And let's not forget you're trusting them to know how to keep your information secure; which has been a disaster for the millions of users (including me) who used the Internet Archive services.

It may be more work and less convenience for me to do it myself, but at least my information remains my own and I function under my own terms; and avoid situations like this:

I've abandoned my previous efforts to move the video content of my postings to Archive.org and have now moved it all back to my own domain. So, it may take a little while for video content to download from the domain into your browser for viewing, but I think it's better than the alternative of not seeing it at all.

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