I noticed if I refresh a page without a proxy it counts as views, but when I do it with a proxy they don't count. So I'm guessing they have a way of determining if they are proxies or not. =S
I think you're maybe on the right lines.
I said earlier in this thread that I'd sent 'real' traffic to a video, and that hadn't been updated either, but that was 'real' traffic, coming from friends, from external sources (my messanger) and using proxies, so therefore, pretty similar pattern of activity to TI.
There's an awful lot of views not being added, and they are not just on BH accounts, or for people using TI or other bots, so it's quite concievable that any proxy views coming to a video, with no visable referal link, are not being added.
There are quite obvious work arounds, if that is the case, but it's not just the bot users this would effect, but also YouTube itself, as it would mean a loss of views for a lot of the sorts of videos that have gone viral, and been big in the past, as much of their traffic has been from external sources, and much of it possibly from proxy users.
So this could change the very nature of the site, as it would mean that many of the old favorites, if uploaded today, wouldn't show as having a fraction of the popularity they really had, and would therefore score much lower in rankings, nd honors etc.
If it works for YouTube, it could be a double victory, killing off a lot of bot users (until the obvious work arounds are implemented) but also killing off a lot of legitimate users, and helping to "promote" partner videos, and promoted videos, of YouTubes choice, thus killing the old anarchic, anything goes, attitude of the original YouTube, and replacing it with a more guided approach, where certain videos, and styles of videos, are pushed at the expense of others (making it more like mainstream media), which is pretty much in keeping with the 'safe' bussiness style direction YouTube has been pursuing in recent times.
If it fails, on the other hand, it could lead to a very sterile, and predictable site that doesn't appeal to the same broad specturm of the current site, and tbh that wouldn't be a huge surprise, because if you look at the current direction of their partnership program, etc., they do seem to encourage dull as dishwater crap, that might be 'safe' and avoid any chance of copyright prosecutions etc., but is decidedly predictable, and often a z-grade immitation of what you currently see on a local cable channel.
So the ramifications, if this is what is happening, don't just come down the bot line, but also down another line, to the future merit of YouTube.
It's obviously not going to die over night, I'm sure it will sustain high levels of traffic for a considerable time to come, it may even grow in the short term, but this 'safe' and sterile approach, that YouTube are apparently persuing will turn it into something that is quite frankly boring, predictable, and a cheap copy of what already exists, and so people will get bored, and eventually start to drift away.
So long term, it might not be the bots they kill, it might be themselves.