YouTube adds High Definition feature to its website

In keeping up with the competition, YouTube has made some significant changes to its website. Visitors now have the capability of viewing videos in a 16:9 HD video format if it can be accommodated. In addition to this new feature, YouTube will be making it easier for users to search for HD content. So far, visitors have been very pleased with the quality of the HD videos and it's a welcome step forward in the online video revolution. One thing that should be interesting to follow is to see if YouTube and its parent company Google can augment its revenue by the introduction of these new features.

Scientology Issues Over 4000 Take Down Notices

A group called American Rights Counsel sent more than 4,000 DMCA takedown notices to YouTube, claiming every video infringed on its copyrights, according to the EFF. Most of the pulled content has already been reinstated already after the various uploaders filed DMCA counter-notices asserting that the videos did not infringe copyright. It appears that Scientologists are not happy with their critics and will use their vast wealth and influence to attack anyone who disagrees or criticises them. According to an article at arstechnica.com; The targets of the takedown action included everything from Anonymous protest videos to Clearwater City Council hearings (Scientology has a major presence in Clearwater, Florida) to German and Canadian news reports. This led YouTube users to rant in public forums about the "abuse" of YouTube's takedown system by American Rights Counsel, which even went after user-created videos. Under YouTubes take down system, all you have to do to get a video taken down is make a claim and it is instantly pulled. Unfortunately the problem with this system is its potential abuse by rightsholders. The DMCA however also includes penalties for anyone who sends takedown notices in bad faith. Reinstating content can be done with nothing more than a simple DMCA counter-notice. This is going to be a long drawn out affair, read the article at arstechnica.com for more.

Veoh Safe Harbor Ruling Could Impact YouTube Suit.

Viacom's $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube could be impacted by a judgement which was handed down in favour of video host Veoh. A federal judge ruled yesterday on the matter in a case where Io, an adult film company. In the ruling the judge said that Veoh does indeed qualify for a Digital Millennium Copyright Act safe harbor. The judge felt that Veoh addressed DMCA complaints quickly, and had banned more than 1,000 repeat infringers, and thus qualified for safe harbor protection. This same ruling could have an impact on Viacoms lawsuit as many of the same conditions are met by YouTube.

Google Anonymizes YouTube Data

Google will anonymize an user identifiable data in the database they hand over to third partys. Much of this is because of the cry from consumer privacy and advocacy groups over privacy issues. Viacom relented due to the outcry and not wanting to look like the bad guys in this legal battle. Groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other privacy advocates argued that disclosing users' usage histories and IP information amounted to a violation of the Video Privacy Act of 1988. Tread carefully big corp ... you don't want to piss off the little guy.

Viacom To Get YouTube User Data

Viacoms $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube, has its first victim, us... Viacom had asked for the source code for the search functions that power Google and YouTube, and for the source code for YouTube's new "Video ID" program. It also asked for a copy of every video ever removed from the site, the databases containing information on every video ever hosted at YouTube, and a copy of every private video. The had some sense and "only" allowed Viacom to get a copy of every video removed from Youtube and the databases, which is like a kick in the teeth to the users because the database covers everything we've viewed on the sites. Civil liberties groups are already crying foul ... can't blame them really. Big brother isn't watching us, the media is...

iPhone To Include YouTube

Apple have announced that iPhone owners will be able to watch YouTube content using a special player and using the higher quality H.264 codec. This is the same codec that YouTube uses for new videos, and for the older ones that need re-encoding. Looks like the net is heating up with rumours and announcements just ahead of the release of this much anticipated device.