YouTube in Danger?
YouTube recently removed footage of the Oscars upon the request of Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. This wasn’t the first time either. If I recall correctly, YouTube has taken videos down for other popular broadcast stations like FOX and NBC, and reportedly gave up a user’s info to FOX. Recently Viacom also started the controversy with YouTube, and eventually they decided to host their own videos.
So now with YouTube in trouble with everyone from CBS to MTV to the Muslim community, it would seem YouTube’s future isn’t so bright. When Google acquired them for $1.65 billion a while ago, it seemed things were looking up, but even Google adds fuel to this fire by reportedly having planned to filter content.
First off, when they gave up a user’s info to FOX, it was pretty much a new low for user registration systems everywhere. I mean, you run a free site where anyone with a valid email can upload, comment and view freely, and their privacy policy most likely protected your info. It’s a shame they did this, because most people’s answer would’ve told FOX to shove it. Especially FOX, of all other stations.
The Viacom thing, already a month or so old demanded Google to remove over 100,000 (one hundred thousand, yes) videos from their site. Viacom includes MTV and Comedy Cental, and so I ask you this: What is YouTube without clips of the Colbert Report?
In hindsight, February was a bad month for YouTube, losing hundreds of thousands of videos, getting into disputes with Viacom, NBC, CBS, you name it. It seems that YouTube is becoming an easy target for any corporation with videos on it, or even a crappy marketing technique. Next up, Funtwo, the guy that recorded the Cannon in D that was so popular is going to be suing Google to remove all clips of his videos and a nice payout.
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