Arrrrr...Ayyye...Avast! Google Is Expelling Pirates From YouTube
YouTube has been a marvelous success. That's why Google paid 1.65 billion dollars to get their hands on it. Well, Google has decided to try to identify copyrighted material on their shiny new toy, and in a very serious way:
A technology designed to detect copyright material could give YouTube a needed dose of legal legitimacy and calm any concerns Google Inc. has about spending $1.65 billion on the Internet video site. But that same technology could hurt YouTube's edgy appeal.
While YouTube is known as the place to find almost any kind of video clip, recent agreements with high-profile content creators require YouTube to deploy 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.
Here's our instant analysis of the the likely outcome of the two scenarios:
A: Substitute approved version. OK
B: Take material down automatically: Bye bye YouTube.
