Viacom, already suing YouTube for $1bn, spends $100k a month on a proprietary content task force, and even more time whining to the media about it. The task force's mission is to find Viacom content on YouTube, tell YouTube about it, and wait until YouTube takes the clip down. Then Viacom slams the door to its room several times so you know it's mad. Pretty imposing.
This is the latest ignominy in a long, degrading fall for Old Media (along with the release of the networks' fall lineups which just came out...ouch), and has to be indicative of how little Google is actually worried about the $1bn lawsuit. Rushing to lose the online sharing ratings race, NBC Universal spends $1mm a month on its own anti-piracy efforts, and several other Old Media outlets have dedicated teams of people hired to throw proprietary content sharing hissy-fits. CBS has hired David Caruso to look for YouTube violations full time from his fictitious Miami residence.
YouTube, instead of implementing a permanent video filtering or flagging technology, has a team, called SQUAD (Safety Quality User Advocacy Department) that takes all the clip violation requests with a straight face, unable to fathom how impotent the Old Media companies are. Such technology isn't a stretch, as MySpace already has a video fingerprinting technology in place that prevents flagged content from reappearing on the site.
The YouTube Police [BusinessWeek]
Posted by Anoymous, May 15, 2007 7:08PM
KH, excellent post. Your summary came in at 228 words, approximately 50% of the length of the BW article (444 words). I'm finding that your posts are gradually becoming more readable. Good job. Anyway, reading the article, one gets the impression that not only do New Media companies not give a rat's ass about Old Media temper tantrums (and lawsuits), but they're also just kinda waiting around until Old Media companies (1) grow tired of monitoring use violations, (2) go bankrupt from anti-piracy efforts, or (3) both. As an avid YouTube user, I'm enjoying the degradation of Old Media.