Youtube Bans Rickroll, the Internet is "Never Gonna Give it Up"

Youtube took Rick Astley's annoying, yet catchy, "Never Gonna Give You Up" pop single off of Youtube due to Sony BMG copyright infringement - 30 odd million views later. Well, the internet is not having it and Rickroll protests are taking over the net.

If you had access to the internet during 2007 or later and came across a cheesy 80's pop singer professing his devotion to never give up, let go, turn around, or desert his lover (usually involuntarily); you were Rickrolled. That cheesy pop singer was Rick Astley of Rickroll fame and that catchy tune was Never Gonna Give You Up, a 1987 British pop single smash.

Rick Astley's pop hit Never Gonna Give You Up resurfaced 20 years after it stayed # 1 on the UK pop charts for five weeks by getting plugged in a Family Guy episode. After Brian (from Family Guy) was caught singing Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley, the internet was hooked. Rickroll was everything the internet loved: funny, awkward, annoying, and nostalgic and instantly set YouTube on fire.

In 2007 (and beyond) every website link was looked at with scrutiny in fear of hearing Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley or being Rickrolled as it's called. Rickroll become the mother of all internet pranks (with Screamers coming in a not so close second) and once you were Rickrolled you felt compelled to do it to someone else, forcing the Rick Astley YouTube video to go viral (gaining 30 million YouTube videos and more interest than Never Gonna Give You Up did when it was originally released).

23 years after its release and 3 years of YouTube fame, the beloved Rickroll video, Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley, was pulled from YouTube due to Sony BMG copy right infringement. The decision to ban Never Gonna Give You Up from YouTube has brought about another resurrection of the almighty Rickroll prank, but this time it's for revenge.

Fans of the Rick Astley phenomenon are wondering why, after 30 million views, was their beloved Rickroll video banned from YouTube. Copyright infringement is understandable, but after 3 years and 30 million YouTube views? Nonetheless, the Rickroll rebellion has already started so don't click on any suspicious links unless you want to be tricked into hearing the heartfelt lyrics of Never Gonna Give You Up (c'mon, you know you like being Rickrolled).

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