While youtube can't release the hijackers info to the actual channel owner - couldn't a lawyer subpoena this information?

It does like a no-win situation though. The emails leaked to the owner by adsense support looked eastern earopean. Not sure how you'd go about pressuring banks over there.

Really unfortunate they slipped through the cracks in the support like that.

It seems that these horror stories are happening more frequently and makes me wonder if Google/YouTube is suffering from complacency rot. This happens when people stop caring and just start "doing their job" or "following protocol" which is usually easier than caring.

> This happens when people stop caring and just start "doing their job" or "following protocol" which is usually easier than caring.

The dude in the video admitted they didn't realize this was occurring for nearly a year. If anyone was lacking in the caring department, it's actually the individual who could have cared, but didn't. In Youtube's case, there is literally nobody there that "should have cared" about this from an individual standpoint. That is, until they are made aware of the issue, which may take some work from those who do actually care about the outcome.

So, if this is perceived as Youtube's problem, then how exactly would they (groups of individuals at Youtube) have realized this was occurring over a long period of time?

You seemed to miss the entire point, their legitimate problems: how the pay system is set up; the fact that YouTube referred to the hacker as the "other Admin", and suggested they deal directly with the thief to resolve the problem; and how they initially just dismissed the problem. If you watched that video and thought it was all their fault, I suggest you watch the entire video.