• Financial Times, Wednesday, January 3, 2007 10:15 AM

Google's efforts to make nice with the media giants whose content is being freely distributed across the Web by YouTube, its new video service, have received a setback. YouTube is failing to complete the anti-piracy software it promised, the first line of defense against piracy on its Web site.

The so-called "content identification system" is supposed to track down and prevent unauthorized copyrighted music and video from being uploaded to YouTube. It was supposed to be ready by the end of last year, but the company confirmed that it was not, and was unable to give a date as to when the technology would be in place.

Media companies reckon that YouTube costs them thousands in copyright damages every day, so missed deadlines aren't likely to be taken lightly. If the delay lingers--suggesting more than just a minor setback, "this is certainly going to be a serious issue," says Mike McGuire, a digital-media analyst with Gartner.

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