• Did Google Buy A Six-Month Exclusive On Copyright Infringement?
    Mark Cuban has posted an anonymous post on this Weblog containing intimate details of the Google-YouTube deal that haven't published. The original post comes from the Pho List, a media-related email list received by Cuban and other highbrow media buffs, from a guy Cuban says "I respect and trust." The following can't be substantiated, but is interesting, even if it's just theory. One reason YouTube's price tag was so big is that nearly one-third of the $1.65 billion has been set aside to deal with potential legal issues, with the rest being distributed to shareholders, including VC firm Sequoia …
  • Ad-Supported Music Biz Is Inevitable
    The original Napster--along with Grokster, Morpheus and other peer-to-peer music file-sharing services--are now a thing of the past, after the Supreme Court ruled that companies enabling users to swap copyrighted files could be sued. But the practice of illegally swapping music for free thrives, because other countries don't care if U.S. record companies are suffering from copyright infringement. This year, between 300 million and 500 million files were pirated each day, according to measurement firm ArtistDirect--a fact that dwarfs legal transactions from Apple's iTunes, which for the most part, remain unprofitable. Enter the ad-supported music services; many have …
  • ABC News Expands Audience Online
    ABC News is the only news network that airs a free, live 15-minute Webcast, available at ABCNews.com daily at 3 p.m. and later, for download on Apple's iTunes. In September, the "World News Webcast" featuring Charles Gibson had 5.2 million downloads, according to the Hollywood Reporter. This month, it's doing just as well. It's a smart move from ABC, because in all likelihood, the news network knows the Webcast reaches an audience that doesn't watch the evening news at 6:30 p.m. "What it has become is much more of a broadcast aimed at people who use the Web …
  • Google Video Announces First Rev-Split Video Deal
    The official launch of Brightcove got all kinds of attention yesterday, but it wasn't the only video news of the day. Google also brokered its first "sponsored video" deal for Google Video-not YouTube. Eepybird, the guys in white lab coats who perform experiments with Coca-Cola and Mentos (which both sponsored the "experiments"), have made a reported $35,000 from posting their video on video-sharing site Revver. Now, their most recent video will make an appearance on Google's video site. The official Google blog said this was the first of what it hoped would be many sponsored videos. But there's a …
  • Yahoo-AOL Rumors Reemerge
    Yahoo is still after a big deal that will put it back in the good graces of its unhappy shareholders. The giant Web portal most recently approached Time Warner about buying AOL, essentially rejuvenating talks that broke down about a year ago. Both sides deny the talks, of course--but regardless of whether anything comes of this, a Yahoo-AOL merger would be a face-saver for CEO Terry Semel. Let's not forget that Yahoo was bested again last year by Google in a deal that brought the search giant a 5% stake in AOL and an exclusive in Internet search. If …
  • Google: We Won't Tolerate Copyright Violations
    Late last week, Google preceded its decision to remove Viacom's material from new acquisition YouTube with tough talk over its policy for copyrights. Nikesh Arora, vice president of Google Europe, told reporters the search giant would not tolerate copyright violations. Of course, the video-sharing site owes much of its rapid growth to the existence of thousands of clips uploaded from old TV shows by its users. However, most believe YouTube was able to escape copyright lawsuits because it is a new business with little cash. Little cash--but a lot of potential, and Google's task is now to convince copyright …
  • BBC Mutiny Over Web Ads
    The British Broadcasting Corporation, Britain's largest media outlet, has come under fire from its own employees for plans to sell ads on its Web site. Employees circulated a 10-page document condemning the proposal, which they say could lead to "less serious journalism" and might damage the BBC's reputation. More than 170 BBC Web site employees signed a petition protesting the idea. Say what you will about the quality of American journalism relative to the BBC, but if American news media outlets operated that way, they would all be virtually bankrupt. Remember, the BBC is one of the world's largest …
  • Viacom Orders Comedy Central Content Off YouTube
    Here's an example of how Google's acquisition of YouTube is changing things for the viral video site's users: Thousands of clips from Comedy Central shows like "The Daily Show," "The Colbert Report" and "South Park" were taken down over the weekend. Instead, users were greeted with the following message: "This video has been removed due to terms of use violation." Users who uploaded the Comedy Central content were also informed that if they attempted to upload video from the Viacom unit again, it would result in the immediate deletion of their accounts. Apparently, Google CEO Eric Schmidt and co. …
  • EVB Creates Mash-Ups For Adidas-Sponsored MLS Playoffs
    Interactive agency EVB has developed an integrated ad campaign for Major League Soccer sponsor Adidas in partnership with creative teams C-TRL and Eclectic Method. In it, MLS teams that reach the playoffs have been paired in a video mash-up with a song and video from a local artist. Creative Director Jason Zada said the idea was to bring American soccer to light during the most crucial part of the MLS season, by pairing the teams with underground bands from each of the cities represented. The end product is actually seven total mash-ups appearing on a special MLS Mash Ups …
  • Forbes: Google Still A Hot Buy
    In a recent Forbes column, venture capitalist Martin Sosnoff, who has invested in Google, Microsoft, Comcast, Akamai and IBM, says "anyone who sells his Google stock now and pays capital gains taxes is feckless." The search giant, currently trading at a near-record high of around $475, is still a buy, as its "numbers are dancing far above what even the most bullish analysts had construed for its September quarter." He adds that its acquisition of YouTube for $1.65 billion "is a petty cash transfer." But it's also a potential headache. Following the decision of Viacom to force Google to …
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