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YouTube is a popular free video sharing web site which lets users upload, view, and share video clips. Founded in February 2005 by three employees of PayPal, the San Bruno-based service utilizes Adobe Flash technology to display video. The wide variety of site content includes movie and TV clips and music videos, as well as amateur content such as videoblogging. It is staffed by 67 employees.• In October 2006, Google, Inc., announced that it had reached a deal to acquire the company for $1.65 billion USD in Google's stock. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006.
History
Word spreads and traditional media take notice In its short time on the web, YouTube has grown quickly and received much attention. Online word-of-mouth has been primarily responsible for YouTube's growth since its inception, and gave the site its first surge of publicity when it hosted the popular Saturday Night Live short Lazy Sunday. The following month, in an attempt to strengthen its policy against copyright infringement, YouTube set a 10-minute maximum limit on video length (except for content submitted via its Director Program, which specifically hosts original material by amateur filmmakers). However, the real cutoff is 10:58. This restriction is often circumvented by uploaders, who instead split their original video into smaller segments, each shorter than the 10-minute limit. Though YouTube had done its part to comply with NBC's demands, the incident made the news, giving YouTube its most prominent publicity yet. As the site continued to grow, NBC began to realize the possibilities, and in June 2006 made an unusual move. The network had reconsidered its actions and was announcing a strategic partnership with YouTube. Under the terms of the partnership, an official NBC channel will be set up on YouTube, showcasing promotional clips for the series The Office. YouTube will also promote NBC's videos throughout its site. CBS, which had previously also asked YouTube to remove several of its clips, followed suit in July 2006. In a statement indicative of how the traditional media industry's perception of YouTube (and similar sites) has changed, Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports noted: In August of 2006, YouTube announced that, within 18 months, it hopes to offer every music video ever created, while still remaining free of charge. Warner Music Group and EMI have confirmed that they are among the companies in talks to implement this plan.• In September Warner Music and YouTube signed a deal, in which YouTube will be allowed to host every music video Warner produced while sharing a portion of the advertisement income. Additionally, user-created videos on YouTube will be allowed to use Warner songs in their soundtracks.• On October 9, CBS, along with Universal Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment, also agreed to provide content to YouTube.• Accessibility Revenue model Before being bought by Google, YouTube stated that its business model is advertising-based. Some industry commentators have speculated that YouTube's running costs — specifically the bandwidth required — may be as high as US$1 million per-month, thereby fuelling criticisms that the company, like many internet start-ups, did not have a viably implemented business model. Advertisements were launched on the site beginning in March 2006. In April, YouTube started using Google AdSense. YouTube subsequently stopped using AdSense. Given its traffic levels, video streams and pageviews, some have calculated that YouTube's potential revenues could be in the millions per month. Copyright infringement YouTube policy does not allow content to be uploaded by anyone not permitted by United States copyright law to do so, and the company frequently removes uploaded infringing content. Nonetheless, a large amount of it continues to be uploaded. Generally, unless the copyright holder reports them, YouTube only discovers these videos via indications within the YouTube community through self-policing. The primary way in which YouTube identifies the content of a video is through the search terms that uploaders associate with clips. Some users have taken to creating alternative words as search terms to be entered when uploading specific type of files (similar to the deliberate misspelling of band names on MP3 filesharing networks). For a short time, members could also report one another. The service offers a flagging feature, intended as a means for reporting questionable content, including that which might constitute copyright infringement. However, the feature can be susceptible to abuse; for a time, some users were flagging other users' original content for copyright violations, purely out of spite. YouTube proceeded to remove copyright infringement from the list of offenses flaggable by members. On October 5, 2006 the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) had their copyright complaints regarding Japanese media on YouTube finalized. Thousands of media from popular Japanese artists (such as Tokyo Jihen and various other music including Jpop) were removed.• TV journalist Robert Tur filed the first lawsuit against the company in summer 2006, alleging copyright infringement for hosting a number of famous news clips without permission. The case has yet to be resolved.•• Use of acoustic fingerprints On October 12 2006, YouTube announced that because of recent agreements with high-profile content creators, they were now required to use anti-piracy software. The software uses an audio-signature technology that can spot a low-quality copy of a licensed music video or other content. YouTube would have to substitute an approved version of the clip or take the material down automatically. Analysts noted removal of content based on such a system might negatively impact user satisfaction. • • Violence On their 6:30 PM bulletin on June 1, 2006, ITV News in the UK reported that YouTube and sites like it were encouraging violence and bullying amongst teenagers, who were filming fights on their mobile phones (see happy slapping), and then uploading them to YouTube. While the site provides a function for reporting excessively violent videos, the news report stated that communication with the company was difficult. White House Office of National Drug Control Policy involvement In September 2006, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) began running anti-drug PSAs through the YouTube System. In response, many YouTube users began uploading rebuttals and rating the public service announcements down. Since mid-September, the ONDCP has removed the ability to rate or comment on any of their PSAs as a result. New York Times reports anti-U.S. videos On October 5th, 2006, the New York Times reported on the proliferation of what they considered to be anti-U.S. videos on YouTube.• Zucker political ad On October 10th, 2006, YouTube users flagged the political ad of noted producer, and former long-time Democrat, David Zucker as being inappropriate for viewers under 18. The ad criticized the Clinton administration and the Democratic Party as weak in protecting national security. Some questioned YouTube's flag--normally used to indicate material that is inappropriate for viewers under 18--though Zucker's ad contains nothing profane or pornographic. The GOP decided not to use Zucker's ad in the 2006 campaign, because it was considered "over the top." On October 12th, YouTube removed the age-verification page and no longer censored the video for viewers under 18. Criticism of Islam Several users have complained that YouTube's administration has censored their videos that were critical of Islam. Domain name problem YouTube's immense success has unintentially reduced business for an American company, Universal Tube and Rollerform Equipment Corp., whose website, http://www.utube.com, has frequently been shut down by extremely high numbers of visitors unsure about the spelling of YouTube's domain name. At the beginning of November 2006, Universal Tube filed suit in federal court against YouTube. YouTube celebrities YouTube's popularity has led to the creation of many YouTube Internet celebrities, popular individuals who have attracted significant publicity in their home countries from their videos.• These memes have come from many different backgrounds. The most subscribed YouTube member, as of August 16, 2006, is Geriatric1927, a 79-year-old pensioner from England who gained widespread recognition within a week of making his debut on the site. For these users, the internet fame has had various unexpected effects. By way of example, YouTube user and former receptionist Brooke Brodack from Massachusetts has been signed by NBC's Carson Daly for an 18-month development contract. On the other hand, Australian user Emmalina's fame led to her computer being hacked and private information stolen from her computer, forcing her to remove her videos from YouTube.• Most significant has been the uncovered fictional blog lonelygirl15, now discovered to be the work of New Zealand actress Jessica Rose and some film directors. Youtube has also become a means of promoting bands and their music. One such example is the Sick Puppies, who became famous after their music was in a popular Youtube Video, called the Free Hugs Campaign. Notable YouTube Celebrities Logo As of Google's acquisition of Youtube, the Youtube logo has changed slightly by having added shading. The font of the slogan has changed as well. See also Similar websites | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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