In an effort to attract more users to its video service, Yahoo is copying YouTube, the Internet video start-up that continues to grow by leaps and bounds since it launched last year. Like YouTube,
Yahoo will now store homemade videos on its own site, separating them into different categories like "most-watched" and letting users browse and rate the clips they see. Up until now, Yahoo Video
has focused on indexing clips available on other Web sites. The Associated Press says this is clearly an attempt by the Sunnyvale, Calif. giant to chip away at YouTube's early lead, but questions
arise about how Yahoo will deal with copyright violation. YouTube has struggled mightily with users uploading copyrighted and otherwise offensive materials to its site. It depends on its users and
editors to find questionable content. Yahoo will have to rely on a similar system to make sure its site stays clean, but it claims its editors will screen all clips that appear on its front page to
reduce risk. Other video providers have recently changed their ways to try and compete with YouTube, which streams 40 million clips a day and generated 12.5 million users in April, according to
Nielsen/NetRatings; a few weeks ago, Google eliminated the need for special software to upload clips to Google Video. Meanwhile, Time Warner's AOL is set to unveil a video clip service called UnCut
Video.
Read the whole story at Associated Press »
