Taking the Cool out of YouTube
Posted by Miles Evans
YouTube has recently been adhearing too any and all copyright claims on its popular video service. Google Video did this long ago but until a couple of weeks ago I was happily watching UFC, Boxing and other PPV events to my hearts content.
Alright so PPV events I can see but what prompted Fox News to pull the heated Clinton piece with Chris Wallace the other night?
As the original poster of the Clinton video points out…
There are only two reasons for a news organization to want that video taken down, because they plan on selling it or because they don’t want people to see it. I doubt heavily that this interview will ever be sold because of how bad it makes them look. Can I assume that they want it down so no one will see how much of a smackdown Clinton gave Wallace? The transcript is there, but it’s different in text than in video.
It’s no secret YouTube has itself thrived off of copyright infringement. In fact their business model pretty much depends on it. Remember when you added Whip It to your video piece and uploaded it last month? Infringement. Or all those clips of George W. Bush you ripped from CNN for your anti-war video? Technically you need permission for that too. Don't think it will come to that? The RIAA has already started going after amateur video uploaders on both Google Video and YouTube.
Alright so that's a bit extreme. But pulling a hugely publicized interview with an American president because it satisfies a political agenda? It seems Fox has even wiped most of the video from its own website thus ridding the world of this scrapbook moment forever. The fact that this act by Fox is both underhanded and retardedly redundant aside, I still think it is really weak that YouTube takes this stance on news footage released into what many would consider the public domain.
YouTube’s popularity has overshadowed the fact that is does facilitate piracy on a mass scale but the fawning over the service could change to lawsuits very quickly.
YouTube has actually seemed kerfuffled with a business model because of this stuff. In YouTube and the copyright cops Ken Fisher goes over in detail how YouTube is coping with copyright issues, including how the DMCA is actually protecting the video giant. It's a real dilemna. On why YouTube does not monetize pages with Video content:
As the company searches for a business model, it will be critically important for them to stay away from anything that looks to capitalize on, well, one of the things that makes the site so popular: copyright infringement.
One scenario is that perhaps what we will see is a shattering of YouTube into sites who will and will not effectively police piracy. This is indeed actually already happening on a very small scale with niched sites like, cough, porntube, but I am also seeing enterprising pirates screening their own mashups of popular TV series like the Family Guy online. I can totally see this type of stuff ballooning very soon and when the dust clears you can bet the content producers (and us viewers), will be the losers.
Oh, and suck a dick Fox news. All your news are belong to us.
Posted Sep 25, 2006 at 10:32 PM | Permalink | Trackback URL | Del.icio.us | DIGG!
Comments
That interview really was something, wasn't it? Clinton really held his own, and it seems like he was waiting for the perfect opportunity to start shooting down all the critics who have been harping on him for years.
As far the copyright issues on YouTube: Really, it was just a matter of time before they fell into the scope of the copyright police. Copyright is a serious thing, and not just limited to books and (now) music. This is only the beginning...
Posted by Mike on September 28, 2006 2:37 PM
Damnnnn that interview was really intense. Mike Wallace would be ashamed.
Posted by van_keith on September 29, 2006 10:05 AM
The reason people defend copyrights is because you've got to defend copyrights to keep them alive. It has nothing to do with Clinton, or Chris Wallace, or Fox News.
And I don't know what Mike Wallace would be ashamed of, Chris is like that with everyone. Always has been, on ABC previously and on Fox now. Most people just don't blow a gasket, so it's not news. But if losing your temper, jabbing your finger into people and lying are the new cool, well pass me the tequila and bring on the press corps.
Posted by Morgan on October 2, 2006 9:50 PM
Hah! Great comment Morgan.
I still think Fox news and Rupert Murdoch are Satan spawn. Also I don't know what Clinton was lying about. If he was lying, surely conservatively biased Fox would not have buried the footage.
Clinton walked away smelling like a rose imo.
Posted by Miles Evans on October 4, 2006 2:11 AM