YouTube’s ‘mafia shakedown’
p2pnet.net news:- YouTube wants to introduce technology it says will ID copyrighted videos uploaded by users, but the proposal has been likened to a “mafia shakedown,” says Reuters.
“The move contrasts with YouTube’s biggest rival, News Corp.’s, popular Internet social network, MySpace, which said on Feb. 12 it would offer its own version of copyright protection services for free,” says the story.
“YouTube’s “proposition that they will only protect copyrighted content if there’s a business deal in place is unacceptable,” a Viacom spokesman is quoted as saying.
Viacom recently demanded YouTube remove more than 100,000 Viacom video clips and has consequently become the “poster child of dissent against YouTube, trying to prevent the site from turning into the Apple Inc. of online video,” says the story, going on:
“YouTube said the process of identifying copyrighted material is not an automated process and required the cooperation of media company partnersâ€: for instance, a clip of a TV show owned by one company might contain music produced by another, making the process of identifying ownership difficult.
“These matters are very complicated and we are working with our partners to identify and solve these problems,” YouTube said in an e-mailed statement.
Meanwhile, “The debates are about negotiations more than anything else – who’s going to pay whom and how much,” Reuters has Saul Berman, IBM’s global media and entertainment strategy leader, saying.
Also See:
Reuters – YouTube Anti-Piracy Software Policy Draws Fire, February 19, 2007
recently demanded – Beat the Viacom Dragnet, February 19, 2007
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