videoplayback.flv file downloaded from YouTube video via Safari will not play

Hello All,

Here is my question to you:

Has Safari been altered in such a manner as to NOT allow you to download videos direct from YouTube to your Mac without some intermediary interface?

Here are the steps I would use to download the source .flv video file from a video on YouTube to save it on my MacBook Pro:

1. Open Safari.

2. Go to http://www.youtube.com.

3. Enter name of video to view/download in the search bar and hit 'enter'.

4. Start video.

5. While video is playing:

A) Click on 'Window' in Safari's menu bar at the top of the screen.

B) Select 'Activity'.

6. A window will open showing data status of the video.

7. Locate the largest loading file size and wait until it is finished loading.

8. Double-click on that file size.

9. A small 'Downloads' window will appear showing file download status.

10. Navigate to your 'Downloads' folder and drag the file named 'videoplayback.flv to the desktop.

11. Double-click the aforementioned file to start the video in a suitable .flv player (I was using SWF & FLV Player originally).

This process no longer works. All I get is a black screen when I double-click the downloaded .flv file.

Notes:

The file size in Step 7 above would vary accordingly to the length of the video, but now every video I try to save as a .flv is approximately 1.7MB no matter how long the video is. Something isn't right here.

I had originally downloaded and used SWF & FLV Player to view my video when the above process used to work, but now it has upgraded itself to Elmedia Player and wants me to upgrade to the PRO edition to be able to download videos from YouTube.

Any insight to this will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for reading and responding to my question!

Sincerely,

- Austin C.