Google and YouTube Dilemma

I originally posted most of this as a response to Colin's "Blog Like a Pirate Day" post. But I'm not as naturally prolific so I'm going to regurgitate this.

Although the copyright issues at hand here are very very old (within the digital world timeline), I am still surprised by the lack of creativity media companies have shown in responding.

First off, I don't think YouTube is in any serious danger of being dismantled as Napster was, primarily because it offers a much more valuable service to the community. It is significantly easier to distribute information for single or multiple uses, without the threat of acquiring viruses along the way. Used positively, it could be a great tool for distance-learning, marketing, and a myriad of other purposes. Partnered with Google, its audience will skyrocket.

As for running it, I agree that YouTube administrators should be held to their responsibilities of complying with requests to remove materials. However, much like on eBay, it is incredibly hard to police as effectively as most of us (non-fraudulent people) would like. Personally, I like ABC's response to taking away traffic from YouTube and still retaining advertisers and viewers. Nearly 24 hours after a premiere showing of a featured show, they post the episode on their own free viewing site, with only about 90 seconds worth of commercials. Now, the quality is diminished from on TV, but with so few commercials and the ability to access it for free anytime and anywhere I want is priceless. Plus, the quality and speed is still far better than on YouTube.

Anyhow, I think that's the direction more media companies ought to take if they're smart. I doubt it will really hurt DVD sales in the near future when the technology online is still catching up. But as technology becomes more and more sophisticated, businesses will have to react faster and smarter when it comes to protecting media and intellectual property.

Smirnoff seems to have embraced the trend of recycling video for its Raw Tea campaign. You should watch because its just absolutely hilarious and maybe just a little frighteningly familiar. But anyway, this has gotten really popular and serves as another way outlets like YouTube can make a positive impact on sales (but not on our minds...)

Sip Sip Gangstas.