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YouTube Restores Comedy Central Clips

ColinPL writes, "Though YouTube has removed Comedy Central clips, their corporate parent Viacom has confirmed that it wants to find some way to keep the clips available. Viacom has apparently given the green light for YouTube to put the material back up." Update: 11/02 20:49 GMT by Z : We received an email from DB Ferguson at the No Fact zone, letting us know things are a little more muddled than we might otherwise prefer. "This letter contains a link to Jeff's Idealog post where he had evidence that even more clips are disappearing, and I have copies of two Cease and Desist letters that were sent yesterday night from YouTube. The purge continues, despite the news reports that it has stopped or that videos are being put back in."

150 comments

  1. A good start... by grub · · Score: 4, Interesting


    Comedy Central's clips are a start. A more serious matter is the misuse of the DMCA in efforts to stifle criticism.

    An offshoot of the Scientology cult known as The Landmark Forum is using the DMCA against YouTube, Google and The Internet Archive because of a scathing French documentary about Landmark being shared on those sites. It aired in France to 1.5 million people, a month later Landmark pulled out of France. Story at the EFF's site and other news sources.

    The video with English subtitles is available via BitTorrent at PirateBay, search eMule for "Inside Landmark Forum" or view it online at DailyMotion.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:A good start... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Landmark isn't just "an offshoot", it's a full-blown cult in its own right. See:
      Cult News
      Rick Ross' Cult Info
      Cult Help

    2. Re:A good start... by DocSavage64109 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't see why we should spend time educating ourselves on some cult very few have ever heard of when the cults of Christianity and Islam are everywhere and are significantly more powerful.

    3. Re:A good start... by A.+Bosch · · Score: 1


      don't see why we should spend time educating ourselves on some cult very few have ever heard of when the cults of Christianity and Islam are everywhere and are significantly more powerful.


      I would assume it's the misuse of the DMCA in efforts to stifle criticism that would make this of interest of /. readers.

      --
      Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.
    4. Re:A good start... by cHiphead · · Score: 1

      Because Scientologists are everywhere now. Their "religion" allows you to lie if you feel you are justified, without consequence. They avoid paying taxes, they brainwash themselves and others, they use pyramid schemes to make their money, they suppress freedom of thought and action that doesn't benefit the church, they trap their own practitioners and build files for blackmail on them through their own version of confession called auditing, they are required to shun anyone that disagrees with their religion, and they are f'ing cowards and use aggressive doublespeak tactics in their ineffectual attempts to win arguments.

      That said, they aint got nothin on the crazier versions of Southern Baptists. Plus the idea of a galactic fight against alien overlords is kinda cooler than a giant invisible guy with a long beard up in the sky that occasionally gets bored and smites people. But we all know that FSM is really our lord and savior.

      Cheers.

      --

      This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    5. Re:A good start... by chuck · · Score: 1

      They avoid paying taxes,

      Now you've got my attention. Where can I sign up for their newsletter?
    6. Re:A good start... by Aqua_boy17 · · Score: 1

      Thanks to you and GP for the links. I have a friend who got involved in this and tried to suck us in. Now she's disassociated herself with anyone in her life that doesn't walk the Landmark walk. It's sad really as it's taken over her life and probably a good portion of her retirement funds.

      --
      What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
    7. Re:A good start... by meringuoid · · Score: 1
      An offshoot of the Scientology cult known as The Landmark Forum is using the DMCA against YouTube, Google and The Internet Archive because of a scathing French documentary about Landmark being shared on those sites.

      On what basis? They aren't the copyright owner, nor are they the appointed representatives of the copyright owner. Until and unless the French documentary makers complain, what case do they have?

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
    8. Re:A good start... by bobetov · · Score: 1

      Um. I'm hardly a cultist, and Landmark is hardly a cult. I've done 3 seminars with them over the years, for a net of about $1500 for 10 days of group work. It was by far the best money I've spent in my life. It's not for everyone, and there are unsavory aspects to the viral propagation that Landmark (and virtually all seminar-type self-help and training programs) use, but none of it is mandatory or dangerous.

      I took my classes, got what I got out of it, and stopped. No one hassled me about it. No one calls, no social pressure, no ostracism.

      And for my money, I told my dad I loved him for the first time, revolutionized the romantic relationship I was in at the time, and got a grip of my social self in a way I hadn't even known possible. People I was in class with got married, got divorced, quit their jobs, started new careers - all out of a couple of 3-4 day classes. Very powerful stuff, but for most people who do it, very freeing.

      I watched the videos you linked to. They used out-of-context clips to dramatize what goes on in the classes. It's mostly bogus. They also broke a legal agreement not to video or audio record the class, then broadcast that recording. Hardly kosher, whatever your views on copyright etc. That being said, sounds like the DMCA requests are bogus, from what I read on EFF's site.

      Also, for the record, Landmark grew out of EST, neither of which has the slightest thing to do with Scientology. There is no religion, in fact no *spirituality* in Landmark's work.

      --
      Looking for a Rails developer in Chapel Hill?
    9. Re:A good start... by frenchs · · Score: 1

      As much as I see the similarities in Landmark and CoS, I don't think it's accurate to say that Landmark is an offshoot of Scientology.

      I actually had a roommate a few years back that got sucked into Landmark. Turned him from a very cool guy, to a very weird guy.

    10. Re:A good start... by grub · · Score: 1


      Werner Erhard, the man who started EST which became Landmark, was a high level Scientologist. There is a definate link.

      --
      Trolling is a art,
    11. Re:A good start... by nofx_3 · · Score: 1

      They avoid paying taxes, they brainwash themselves and others, they use pyramid schemes to make their money, they suppress freedom of thought and action that doesn't benefit the church
       
      Wait, so how does this differ from Christianity/Judaism/Islam?

      -Kap

      --
      Visualize Whirled Peas
    12. Re:A good start... by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Chritianity is the following of christ works. this by itself is not a cult.

      Some relgion have turned there version of christinity into a cult.

      For example, If a catholic was to marry a non catholic, the churge could(but wouldn't) disallow you from attending service, but they don't send people to attack your spouse. They also don't tell you not to talk to your family anymore, and you dn't have to pay a dime to attend there service. Yes, they willask for a donation, but you don't ahve to give and you can still learn about the belief.

      So becarefull what you call a cult. No I am not catholic.

      A good rule of thumb:
      1. It uses psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate and retain its members

      2. It forms an elitist totalitarian society

      3. Its founder leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable and has charisma

      4. It believes 'the end justifies the means' in order to solicit funds
                recruit people

      5. Its wealth does not benefit its members or society

      from http://www.xenu.net/cic/definit.html

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    13. Re:A good start... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [CultSpeak]
      Thanks For Sharing but I'm Already Always Listening and I don't want to Get It which means I won't be able to Create My Possibilities by using Landmark's Technology. I don't want to Commit to the Possibility of Being, that's just a Racket which is OK'd by Landmark.
      [/CultSpeak]

    14. Re:A good start... by aunticrist · · Score: 0

      Let's not forget that they are also responsible for the death of one of their members, although they escaped the criminal charges, they never escaped the civil charges brought by the family.

    15. Re:A good start... by AKAImBatman · · Score: 1

      Insightful? Troll is more like it.

      Scientology harrasses and/or kills anyone that is not a member of scientology. Unlike killings supposedly done in the name of Christianity, Ron L. Hubbards notes to his followers explicitly tells them to lie, cheat, steal, and kill!

      Anyone who actually reads the Bible will find, "Thou shalt not kill", "Thou shalt not steal", etc, etc.

      Lastly, remember the Xenu (sp?) spat with Slashdot a few years ago? How they fired off a Cease and Desist because a user posted their "copyrighted material" on Slashdot? Screw them. Send me your address and I'll give you a copy of the Bible. Even better, you can read it online here. Visiting a hotel? Try looking in the drawer. There's a Gideon Bible there, free for you to read.

      So don't try to compare Scientology and Christianity in general. The two are NOT the same.

    16. Re:A good start... by DocSavage64109 · · Score: 1

      I consider all of the miracles in the bible to be lies (or incorrectly attributed natural events) along with all of the references to god. I would also assume that many in the Church of Scientology are just as firm in their beliefs as you are in yours.

    17. Re:A good start... by vertinox · · Score: 1

      Christianity and Islam never sued anyone for copyright infringement.

      --
      "I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
      -Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
    18. Re:A good start... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This poorly researched and wilfully ignorant HURR ALL RELIJUNS IS EQUALLY EVIL crap makes me depressed to be lumped in with many of my fellow atheists.

    19. Re:A good start... by damiam · · Score: 1

      Not to defend Scientology, but I've never heard of them harming nonmembers, just ex-members. Contrast this to Islam, where a literal interpretation of the Qur'an pretty much undeniably supports killing nonbelievers.

      --
      It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
    20. Re:A good start... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    21. Re:A good start... by grub · · Score: 1


      You're welcome. :) I'm seeding that torrent, if anyone can keep sharing after they snag it I'd appreciate it. I'm filling my outgoing bandwidth to (at the moment) 28 peers. Hot video!

      --
      Trolling is a art,
    22. Re:A good start... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      They aren't the copyright owner, nor are they the appointed representatives of the copyright owner. Until and unless the French documentary makers complain, what case do they have?

      According to the EFF article, one of Landmark's secret magic word books is copyrighted and in the video.

    23. Re:A good start... by 2short · · Score: 1


      Give me a literal interpretation of this then:

      "thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them."

      Hint: It isn't the Qur'an

    24. Re:A good start... by twistedsymphony · · Score: 1

      While I don't believe in any of Scientology I do have a relative who is a Scientologist, and as a result I know quite a few of her friends who are Scientologists also. From what I've seen first hand they're generally nothing like what people make them out to be.

      That's not to say I've never seen any of them deploy some of the nasty tactics you described but it's my impression that those are the Scientology fanatics. From what I've seen you can point to religious fanaticism in any religion and find a laundry list of unsavory characteristics, Scientology is no different. It seems to me that most people just fear what they don't understand, Scientology being a relatively smaller religion is not as widely understood and people take any excuse to find wrong doings.

      I'm not defending the religion, many religions including Scientology I consider to be mostly BS, I'm just saying that you can't point your finger at a group of people and make sweeping generalizations without making yourself look like an ignorant bigot.

    25. Re:A good start... by Fozzyuw · · Score: 1
      Anyone who actually reads the Bible will find, "Thou shalt not kill", "Thou shalt not steal", etc, etc.

      The Bible (old Testament)is also filled with stories of death, destruction, doom and gloom at the 'hands' of the all knowing, all loving, and all powerful big "G". Of course, I believe that faith and therefor religion is an important part in the development of any person, particularly at an early age, for it's morals, proverbs, wit, and wisdom, but not to the point of closed minded singularity.

      Cheers,
      Fozzy

      --
      "The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
    26. Re:A good start... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What in the hell are you talking about? How does your comment relate to anything being discussed here? The parent posted that Christianity is distinct from Scientology for verifiable reasons. He didn't say anything about the validity of the faith claims of either organization.

      Scientology is one of the most prevalent abusers of the legal system and the DCMA in hiding evidence and speech showing the way Scientology ruins lives, even ends lives, in its pursuit of money. Scientologists often try to act like their whacky claims make them similar to other whacky claims in other religions - that tolerating Scientology is required of the religiously tolerant. But scientology's real evils aren't due to it's unbelievably absurd faith claims. I can tolerate all religious views and still condemn some things that stem from religious claims (like terrorism in extreme islam or chirstianity or, for scientology: refusing to help mentaly ill people / old people / children whom you've convinced you can cure of fallacious diseases only if they give you money, and killing/brainwashing them if they try to resist.

      We're not talking about whether Xenu really exists or if Jesus walked on water. What an absurd red herring!

    27. Re:A good start... by navyjeff · · Score: 1
      They avoid paying taxes, they brainwash themselves and others, they use pyramid schemes to make their money, they suppress freedom of thought and action that doesn't benefit the church

      Wait, so how does this differ from Christianity/Judaism/Islam?

      Simple: Judaism doesn't require its believers to convert others. Actually, they discourage it.

    28. Re:A good start... by AKAImBatman · · Score: 1

      Are you a Hittite, Girgashite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, or Jebusite? If you say, "yes", then you'd be lying. (Hint: They're all dead.) So you don't exactly need to worry, do you?

      A literal reading of the Bible would turn up a very clear theme for the military campaigns of Israel. One which explains why the Earth was flooded, and why Goliath of Gath (the Philistines, an offshoot of the Canaanites) was a giant. Of course, that requires that one believe in struggles between humans and fallen angels in human form. Which must be a fairy tale, so you can happily discount the whole thing as make-believe.

      Thou shalt not kill

      It's in the Bible, and it means something.

    29. Re:A good start... by gallwapa · · Score: 1

      Cult? Cults? Check out the Amway/Quixtar "motivational organizations" with people like Dexter Yager, Bill Britt, and Ron Puryear indoctrinating millions worldwide....

    30. Re:A good start... by aunticrist · · Score: 0

      Well, ok, more than one, although only one of them got the majority of the press when it happened. :)

    31. Re:A good start... by ocbwilg · · Score: 1

      On what basis? They aren't the copyright owner, nor are they the appointed representatives of the copyright owner. Until and unless the French documentary makers complain, what case do they have?

      Silly rabbit, you don't have to be the copyright owner or their appointed representative to issue a takedown request under the DMCA. The safe harbor provision basically says that you can't be held liable for your users posting copyrighted content as long as you take it down after receiving a takedown request. Basically, it was intended to protect service providers when a copyright suit is being brought. The assumption was that in practive the copyright holder would issue a takedown request and then initiate an infringement suit. But reality, most of the time the copyright holder will settle for getting the content taken offline in lieu of a huge lawsuit. So in a reasonable person's world, the ISP or host would actually bother to verify that the entity issuing the takedown request held the copyright or were a representative thereof, but most of them just want to avoid getting sued under the DMCA and will take it down regardless because the consequences of delaying are potentially quite high. This is a remarkably effective way to silence criticism and free speech on the Internets.

      The only real defense against it is to find out who is issuing the takedown notices for content that they don't own the copyright on, and file a suit against them for fraud, harrassment or something else along those lines. The EFF has several such cases in process now.

    32. Re:A good start... by CylanR77 · · Score: 1

      " Thou shalt not kill

      It's in the Bible, and it means something.
      "

      I've seen people try to use this line against Christians whenever they're percieved as acting hypocritically (such as a Christian president calling forth soldiers to kill in Iraq). The defense put up in response is brilliant:

      "The Bible, in the original language, doesn't say 'thou shall not kill', it says 'thou shall not murder'; there's a difference. And we're not murdering anyone."

      So you think pointing out that commandment would manage to pull the argument in your favor. You're wrong - Christianity has managed to evolve a defense mechanism against it.

      --
      http://cylan.deviantart.com/gallery/
    33. Re:A good start... by iamsolidsnk · · Score: 1

      "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion."

      - Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology, from Reader's Digest May 1980

      --
      Here I am, here I remain.
    34. Re:A good start... by damiam · · Score: 1
      In context: "When Yahweh your God shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, and shall cast out many nations before you, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than you;

      2 and when Yahweh your God shall deliver them up before you, and you shall strike them; then you shall utterly destroy them: you shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them;"

      Now I'm not a Bible scholar, but it seems to me that it's referring to a specific group of nations occupying a specific piece of land, and not to unbelievers generally.

      Anyway, my original comment never said anything about the Bible, so I'm not sure why you think this is even relevant.

      --
      It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
    35. Re:A good start... by 2short · · Score: 1

      "it seems to me that it's referring to a specific group of nations occupying a specific piece of land"

      Oh, well in that case, no problem; on with the genocide!

      "Anyway, my original comment never said anything about the Bible, so I'm not sure why you think this is even relevant."

      Your original comment singled out a particular religions text as supporting violence if read literally, implying to me you intended some comment on that religion as opposed to others. I selected a passage from a different religions text that clearly supports violence. Did I happen to pick your religion? Sorry, I don't mean to criticize your religion particularly, my argument is that all religion is dangerous stuff.

    36. Re:A good start... by damiam · · Score: 1
      I'm not a Christian, or religious at all, and I fully acknowledge that the Bible advocates all kinds of nasty stuff. The purpose of my original comment was to argue that Scientology is no worse, and possibly better, than other religions as far as killing nonbelievers goes. I used Islam as an example, because it's one of the worst. A command for the Israelites to destroy a specific historical nation is qualitatively different from a command for all Muslims to destroy all nonbelievers everywhere.

      Obviously some interpretations of the Bible have led to violence, but some don't. The Bible as a human work is much more subject to interpretation than the Qur'an, which is in its Arabic form taken as the literal, eternal word of God. Commands and laws in the Qur'an can't just be explained away with "well, that was a long time ago, we know better now" in the same way that Biblical laws can.

      --
      It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
    37. Re:A good start... by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      The things he is saying is mostly about the Church itself. The Church is a single organization which does do the things he describes. They also have a form of harassing ex-members that surpasses even the Jehovah's Witnesses' method of silent treatment.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    38. Re:A good start... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haha, you paid $1500 to a cult. You're a fucking retard! Do you want a cookie or something?

    39. Re:A good start... by The+Cydonian · · Score: 1

      Landmark and Scientology are corporation-cults. I know all those McChurches are trying hard to be corporatized in their operations, but they're still a few notches below where these guys are.

      More to the point, when faced with a persistent evangelical, you know how to respond. When faced with a zombie-ed Landmark enthusiast who was a good friend from college (true story), you wouldn't know how to respond unless you had more information on the organization.

    40. Re:A good start... by cthulhu11 · · Score: 1

      I know someone who's disappeared into TLF. She was an active member of a nonprofit that I'm involved with, but after she discovered TLF, she individually lobbied everyone on the board (including me) to attend their seminar. Nobody saw any benefit, especially for the $400 or so per person it'd cost. I asked her what her cut was, and she was surprised, saying that she didn't get a dime. Nobody's seen her in months - last word was that she was spending a lot of time out of state on "leadership training". I went to one of their introductory pitches at one point hoping that'd get her to leave me alone about it. Three hours of platitudes and pablum, mindless repetition of the words "create a possibility!" as if they mean something. The whole time I kept thinking "how can these people fall for this thinly-veiled crap?" and "Didn't anyone learn anything from EST?". There are several episodes of Six Feet Under that depict Ruth's encounter with "The Plan". When I saw those, I immediately thought of TLF, and wondered if the writer(s) were directly targeting it. No legitimate Christian religion charges $400 to attend a service, nor does it pester you repeatedly after you've politely declined.

    41. Re:A good start... by 2short · · Score: 1

      "A command for the Israelites to destroy a specific historical nation is qualitatively different from a command for all Muslims to destroy all nonbelievers everywhere."

      I disagree. A call for genocide is appalling, the identity of the targeted group is irrelevant.

      I think your identification of Islam as the problem is erroneous. On the one hand, it's too general; there are a handful of sociopathic nut jobs who think the Qur'an says what you say it does, and must be followed. But it's crazy to identify all of Islam as isdentical with that small group when billions of Muslims DON'T think that's what the Qur'an says. You imply all interpretations of the Qur'an lead to violence, but a quarter of the worlds population disagrees.
      On the other hand, identifying Islam as the problem is too specific; the problem is the very idea that what some book says could have any impact on whether appalling things are justified. History provides pleny of examples of people who thought the Bible justified and required such things of them. Certainly there are people today who would reject your description of the Bible as a "human work"; who think the Bible is the literal, eternal word of God (some specific English translation no less!), and that it justifies terrible things done to people not like them. I beleive the fact that these people are tolerated-fringe Americans rather than the Taliban is an accident of history, not a fundamental difference in their source material.
          From what I've seen of Scientology, it's every bit as bad as the rest. It's small and new, and so dominated by the whackos, but doesn't have enough political clout to survive outright calling for murder. It focusses its negative attention on its own dissidents, not because it is somehow nicer, but because its leaders are smart cult builders. It definitely shares the scary assertion that its followers are involved in something much vaster and more important that the puny, insignificant lives of a few non beleivers.

    42. Re:A good start... by jamar0303 · · Score: 1

      And of course, Jews/Christians/Muslims don't avoid paying taxes (at least it's not standard practice)

      --
      OSx86 FTW
    43. Re:A good start... by jamar0303 · · Score: 1

      broke a legal agreement not to video or audio record the class, then broadcast that recording
      Hold it!
      Why would they have an agreement not to record the classes? Is there something in these classes that is, perhaps, objectionable or suspicious? Events like E3 and TGS (which both require paid admission as far as I know) have people recording and broadcasting these events. Even furniture expos that I have been to with my dad with paid admission (860 yen when I was in Japan) are OK with video recording and broadcasting. Why not this one?

      --
      OSx86 FTW
    44. Re:A good start... by fbjon · · Score: 1
      The big difference between cults like these and mainstream religions is that mainstream religions are Open Source. Beware of proprietary beliefs and philosophies, they're not really worth the time. Keep it simple!


      Today's life philosophy lesson was brought to you by fbjon. Released into the public domain, 2006.

      --
      True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
  2. Colbert Report by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If this video from Stephen Colbert is any indication, then Comedy Central may have felt different about the clips than Viacom did. Based on my observations of the situation, the YouTube clips were generating a lot of free advertisement for Comedy Central. Especailly some of their news commentary, which is quite good despite the humor. For myself, I had no inkling of Comedy Central's news commentary until I bumped across Jon Stewart's commentary on Internet Tubes. Their followup with Senator McCain was brilliant, and John Hodgman's analysis was an example of razor sharp wit. (And hey, you've got to love the, "I'm a PC" bit.)

    Had it not been for YouTube, I never would have found out about Comedy Central. I'd start tuning in, but I've disconnected my cable. Yet I recently noticed that Jon Stewart's show is up on iTunes. Hmmm..... ;)

    1. Re:Colbert Report by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you have disconnected your cable because you are a poor college student like myself, just go download the show from newsgroups or a torrent site :)

    2. Re:Colbert Report by truthsearch · · Score: 1

      All of this week's full episodes are on comedy central's own site. I got the impression they told youtube to remove the videos so they could test demand on their own site.

    3. Re:Colbert Report by AKAImBatman · · Score: 1

      I disconnected my cable because I'm tired of paying Comcat megabucks for a service I barely use. Everything I want to watch is on iTunes. I can get ala carte content cheaper, faster, and on my own schedule. If anything, I'm watching more TV than I watched when I had cable. No more worrying about when a show is on. Especially if you just want to test the waters by checking out the first episode or two. That's not possible on cable. (Yes, you can time shift with a VCR or PVR, but you have to remember to setup the PVR to record the show you want to check out. Otherwise, you're SOL.)

    4. Re:Colbert Report by loraksus · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but the comedy central viewer really, really sucks.

      --
      1q2w3e4r5t6y7u8i9o0pqawsedrftgthyjukilo;p'azsxdcfv gbhnjmk,l.;/
    5. Re:Colbert Report by cavtroop · · Score: 0

      (this isn't a flame/sarcasm etc., its a legit question) How is that working out though, watching your entertainment on a 4" screen?

    6. Re:Colbert Report by geoffspear · · Score: 1

      Where did he say that his computer has a 4 inch screen?

      --
      Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
    7. Re:Colbert Report by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      All of this week's full episodes are on comedy central's own site. I got the impression they told youtube to remove the videos so they could test demand on their own site.


      Yes, and the test is showing that their servers aren't up to the task.

      buffering....

    8. Re:Colbert Report by peragrin · · Score: 1

      I don't know about him, but I watch it on one of the following.

      my 18"LCD
      my 19" CRT
      or my new 23" widescreen LCD.

      at the resolution supported it's as good as regular lo def TV. so nothing spectacular for the wide screen, but as good as regular TV.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    9. Re:Colbert Report by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed.

      I think Comedy Central (et al. Viacom), may be the first Corporation to really see the bigger picture with regard to Youtube, Advertising, and Users. Youtube IS free advetising. Plain and simple. When I first heard they were removing clips, it pissed me off. Not because they're exercising their right, but because it does no one any actual harm, and does not in any way DECREASE their profits. If anything, it increases them as more people who may not see the show, now get exposed to it. THIS, is what I think they finally picked up on. I know if I miss a few days of TDS or CR, and catch a hilarious diatribe on Youtube from either, I'll be more inclined to watch it that night.

      I've always liked Comedy Central, and them taking this stance really hits home that they want to keep in touch with their target demographic. If other Corps. started doing this, and releasing the strangle-hold on clips on Youtube, I might consider watching more of their programming as well. Until such time, they get the *Corporate ASSHOLES* label.

      Comedy Central *GETS IT* people!!!!

    10. Re:Colbert Report by AKAImBatman · · Score: 1
      How is that working out though, watching your entertainment on a 4" screen?

      I thought you said this was a legit question?

      Oh well, just to clarify: My computer was already my television. I've been using a TV Tuner card to combine the two into a single display. (Saves a lot of space, as you might imagine.) It has provided a lot of advantages, including the ability to use my PC as a PVR.

      With iTunes, my viewing experience has actually improved. The quality is better than a PVRed show (even at max quality; which eats up a lot of space), and I can grab the shows anytime I want. My only actual complaint is that the iTunes video window can't be stuck on top of the other windows. That puts a real cramp in my ability to work while watching television. Otherwise, I love it.
    11. Re:Colbert Report by coastin · · Score: 1

      Too bad you're not getting Comedy Central due to cutting off cable. I can see turning off the cable, except I get all of my news from the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. It's just newsyer than the other fake news (fox, cnn, msnbc, abc, nbc, cbs, etc.) shows you see on the boob tub.

      --
      I lost my sig...
    12. Re:Colbert Report by orielbean · · Score: 1

      He assumed you watched on a video ipod, not via itunes on a computer / tv.

    13. Re:Colbert Report by drewtown · · Score: 1

      Colbert especially feeds on his fans and Viral Video, just look at what power he has already (Hungarian bridge anybody). I think there is a lot to be said about youtube and it's power for legal markets to stake their claim in the online video market. Personally if I found a colbert clip incredibly amusing/smart/witty I'd go look it up on youtube or on colbertnation and share it with my friends and family, it's a great way for them to get their name out.

    14. Re:Colbert Report by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It certainly IS a legit question.
      Because there are many, many people out there who mistakenly believe that you can only watch iTunes videos on an iPod.

      I get it all the time when I talk about watching video podcasts and the two iTunes TV episodes I bought. I have to explain to people that you can play them right in iTunes and that I don't even own a video iPod because I don't really have a need for one at that price.

      For those of you who did not know that iTunes video can be played right on the computer, for example I recently took the WoW South Park episode, which I bought on iTunes because it was inexpensive and better quality than anything on YouTube (I don't do torrents, I need the bandwidth), and played it for some friends on a real TV by connecting my laptop to it.

    15. Re:Colbert Report by derniers · · Score: 1

      you are right the servers do suck, I set it to play (with the sound off) and then sometime later watch it, 6-8 minutes of low quality video and poorly synced sound seems to take 30+ minutes to load, adding to the problem is the poor use of wmv that eats machine cycles like crazy even when not running- at least on a Mac, but I have a Mac Pro so I have cycles to burn

    16. Re:Colbert Report by dave_mcmillen · · Score: 1

      I've always liked Comedy Central, and them taking this stance really hits home that they want to keep in touch with their target demographic. If other Corps. started doing this, and releasing the strangle-hold on clips on Youtube, I might consider watching more of their programming as well.

      I notice that CBS is all over YouTube: they post clips, trailers, and so on, for their shows, under the member name CBS (age: 78).

      Of course, this doesn't tell us what they do when other people post things from their shows. Does anyone know?

    17. Re:Colbert Report by hurting+now · · Score: 1
      Actually, the portability of the iPod is convenient and the quality isn't bad. When I'm on a plane or a long car ride, the iPod is perfect for these applications. It has a bright screen, good sound, and I can pause it whenever I need. I have ported over many of my dvd's (oh no! DCMA grey area!!) and even my PVR on the computer to the iPod.


      Does it replace my TV? No. Is it easy to use and convenient? Yes.

    18. Re:Colbert Report by jc42 · · Score: 1

      For myself, I had no inkling of Comedy Central's news commentary until I bumped across Jon Stewart's commentary on Internet Tubes.

      Yeah, that was fun. But do you realize how out of it you appear to be?

      Back before the 2004 US elections, one of the most fun political stories was about several surveys that turned up the apparent fact that the people most likely to correctly answer questions about the candidates' policies and records were not those that watched TV news, but rather those that watched the Daily Show. It was fun to watch the MSM (MainStream Media) news folks try to spin their way out of that one. Since then, there have been a few similar results reported about news in general. The news industry is in sorry shape these days, and there's no sign they're getting any better.

      So if you're not following the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, you're missing the main media source of good, reliable news.

      (Of course, if you know how to read, you have much better sources of news. But that excludes most of the American population, who primarily get their "news" from TV. And those are the people voting in the "sole remaining super-power". Just think what this means for the world as a whole. We're all in sorry shape.)

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
    19. Re:Colbert Report by whoop · · Score: 1

      Primarily, they wanted the stuff off because they want you to watch their select clips on ComedyCentral.com and buy the whole show on Itunes. Popularity/Advertisement/etc be damned when the lawyers get ahold of something...

    20. Re:Colbert Report by AKAImBatman · · Score: 1
      But do you realize how out of it you appear to be?

      Did I mention that I barely watch television? :P

      Of course, if you know how to read, you have much better sources of news.

      Bingo. When you're reading, your brain is engaged. When you're watching television, you are simply absorbing like a sponge. Except that the facts (as they may be) tend to go by quickly. Thus if you get anything out of it, it's often confused and warped. It's hard to develop a valid opinion that way. :(
    21. Re:Colbert Report by NiteShaed · · Score: 1

      A ton of other people have already responded about being able to play iTunes videos on a computer, but another option is plugging the ipod into the TV, which is what I do. The video quality is fine (I don't have hi-def or anything particularly hi end, just a basic CRT TV, so YMMV). All it takes is an additional cable (about $15) with a 1/8' jack on one end, and video/audio RCA on the other.

      --
      Some bring out the best in others, some the worst. Some bring out far more.
    22. Re:Colbert Report by jc42 · · Score: 1

      Did I mention that I barely watch television? :P

      Heh. Some years ago, when I was in college, a friend asked me to keep some stuff in my apartment over the summer. This included a TV set. By the end of the summer, I had to face the fact that I qualified as truly weird, when I realized that I'd never plugged it in. (I didn't own one myself.)

      Closer to the present, we'd had cable TV here because my wife liked it for news and old movies. Back around the time of the 2004 elections, she noticed that since she'd subscribed to Netflicks, she hadn't watched any movies on TV; she'd just popped the DVD in her Mac and watched it there. And the only "news" either of us had watched on TV was the Daily Show. So we asked "Why are we spending all this money for something that we're no longer using?"

      We tried to terminate the TV. But the cable company (RCN) told us that if we did that, we'd also lose our Internet. Hmmm ... We did a bit of study, and found that we could get speakeasy at our house. So we kicked out the cable company, switched to speakeasy DSL over the (silent) phone line, and we've been happy since then for much less money.

      It was annoying that the comedycentral.com web site was so totally screwy, and didn't even work on her Windows box with IE, much less our Macs and linux boxes with a dozen browsers apiece. But they seem to have just redone their site, and it now seems to work everywhere. Now we don't have to go scrounging for Daily Show and Colbert Report clips on random blog sites.

      I can't think of any remaining reason to pay for TV service. But then, I never could; it was just my wife's addiction to old movies that made us subscribe.

      Actually, 5 years ago I did watch some interesting TV news - the 9/11 live coverage. I was really impressed by it, for one reason: Although it was obviously a total surprise to the US government, and they had no idea who'd done it, it was obvious who was going to be given credit/blame. Within the first hour, the TV stations were all chanting "Osama bin Laden ... Osama bin Laden ...". This memory has helped explain a lot of what has happened since then, including the fact that the US government seems to have so little interest in actually finding the guy and bringing him to trial. His lawyers would probably make very public fools of the US prosecutors ...

      Other than that bit of indirect inference, I don't know of anything worthwhile that I'm missing by not having TV service these days.

      (I wonder if this little observation will trigger a political flame fest here? ;-)

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
    23. Re:Colbert Report by Pollardito · · Score: 1

      it's interesting that no one was batting an eye when the Colbert report freely used the Youtube clip of the guy riding his bike down the hill on fire. TV is free to "borrow" from us, but they don't want us to do the same?

    24. Re:Colbert Report by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be"-Jefferson

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    25. Re:Colbert Report by mgblst · · Score: 1

      it's interesting that no one was batting an eye when the Colbert report freely used the Youtube clip of the guy riding his bike down the hill on fire. TV is free to "borrow" from us, but they don't want us to do the same?
       
      Your playground economics intrigues me, I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

    26. Re:Colbert Report by Shadowmist · · Score: 1


      Not if you you use a Mac. It wasn't always so. Originally the videos had a choice of Quicktime, Windows Media Player, and I think RealPlayer. Now they are only available in the current version of Windows Media, which is not supported by Microsoft's abandoned Mac client, nor by the Flip4WMV alternative plugin. And on Windows machines I've had very mixed results because I use Firefox instead of IE.

    27. Re:Colbert Report by Pollardito · · Score: 1

      i'm not saying that taking their stuff is right, i'm just curious if The Colbert Report had to (and did) contact the rights holder for that clip before using it. that show is not exactly a news program so they don't have that excuse to bypass copyright, and i don't think people posting things to YouTube are automatically surrendering the rights to their content

    28. Re:Colbert Report by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      From youtube Terms of Use:
      For clarity, you retain all of your ownership rights in your User Submissions.

      However, by submitting the User Submissions to YouTube, you hereby grant YouTube a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the User Submissions in connection with the YouTube Website and YouTube's (and its successor's) business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the YouTube Website (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels.


      So you pretty much let them do whatever they want with it.
  3. I wonder.... by SkankinMonkey · · Score: 2, Insightful

    if this has anything to do with Steven Colbert's veiled attack against Viacom on his show last night?

    1. Re:I wonder.... by garcia · · Score: 2, Informative

      if this has anything to do with Steven Colbert's veiled attack against Viacom on his show last night?

      "veiled attacks" on The Report mean great things for everyone who's being attacked. If anything, the major media outlets are beginning to realize that Internet content distribution is nothing but great for all parties involved.

      I'm sure it has something to do w/the money that they see with Google floating in the background but that's for another story...

    2. Re:I wonder.... by Kaki+Nix+Sain · · Score: 1

      I don't know, but someone should update his wikipedia entry to say that it was 100% his great idea.

      --

      (C) Kaki Sain, 2011. By reading this, you have illegally copied my property to your brain.

  4. Gnomes by Lewrker · · Score: 0

    1. Threaten to sue YouTube if they don't remove your materials from their database.
    2. Offer money to YouTube to restore your materials to their database.
    3. ???
    4. Profit!

    1. Re:Gnomes by revery · · Score: 1

      1. Threaten to sue YouTube if they don't remove your materials from their database.
      2. Offer money to YouTube to restore your materials to their database.
      3. ???
      4. Profit!


      I think Viacom is banking on the fact that there is no step 3.

  5. Comedy Central.. by kabocox · · Score: 1

    This is great PR for Comedy Central. I wonder if their ratings will go up.

    1. Re:Comedy Central.. by Aqua_boy17 · · Score: 1

      Actually it's part of a pattern and I'm glad they're continuing it. Anyone else remember back in the 90's when Fox was going around agressively handing out Cease and Desist orders to anyone on the web hosting any kind of Simpsons related material? Meanwhile Comedy Central welcomed people to its material and freely let them host, download or share pretty much anything they wanted. I think this helped greatly with channel's overall popularity and acceptance in the web community.

      And as for FauxH^H^H^H^ Fox, well we all know what has happened to them. "Fair and balanced"? Give me a break.

      --
      What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
    2. Re:Comedy Central.. by deinol · · Score: 1

      Meanwhile Comedy Central welcomed people to its material and freely let them host, download or share pretty much anything they wanted.

      I certainly know that South Park's popularity was due greatly in part to it's availabilty on the internet. My freshman year in college I learned about it from friends who were downloading it. I don't think it was available on our cable channels yet. The free sharing of South Park certainly doesn't seem to have hurt it as a revenue stream.

      --
      Got Apathy?
    3. Re:Comedy Central.. by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1
      And as for FauxH^H^H^H^ Fox, well we all know what has happened to them.
      The sky has been taken from them.
      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  6. Still don't see the big deal by ereshiere · · Score: 1

    What, exactly, was pulled from YouTube the other day? When I read about this on /. of course I went to YouTube to check it out, but there were thousands and thousands of Colbert Report clips still there. Was it full episodes that were taken down?

    1. Re:Still don't see the big deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I did the same thing last night when Colbert announced it on his show. A quick YouTube.com search showed that at the time it wasn't true.

    2. Re:Still don't see the big deal by Em+Ellel · · Score: 1

      No, not just full episodes, an interview with Eleanor Holmes Norton was pulled which is a shame, because it was one of the best bits of Colbert and I was just telling a friend of mine that he should watch it.... Hopefully they will restore that - if anything can sell Colbert Report, its that clip.

      -Em

      --
      RelevantElephants: A Somatic WebComic...
    3. Re:Still don't see the big deal by ChoGGi · · Score: 1
  7. Re:Colbert Report.... Shh! by patrixmyth · · Score: 0

    exNay on the Aysaying ouye umpedde ablecay, atthe's hyway iacomVe oesgay fterAy tubeUway!

    Btw, if it's already up, you seriously need to see yesterday's analysis of the Kerry- flap-up, absolutely the best coverage of the issue on any medium, including newsprint.

    --
    "Don't you know you're going to shock the monkey?"- Peter Gabriel
  8. YouTube works for Viacom by TheDrewbert · · Score: 0

    I was sent a link to Lewis Black http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G6yx_jJuoE/ ranting on Dick Cheney. After laughing my ass off at that one, I looked up other Lewis Black clips. He appears on The Daily Show regularly, so some of his clips are from there. So I started watching The Daily Show. Then I caught a bit of Colbert Report and enjoyed that too. So now Viacom has me watching two shows every night because I saw some funny clips on YouTube.

    --
    http://www.CelloFourteGroupie.net
  9. Obvious! by VincenzoRomano · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    This move is the result of a legal action!

    --
    Maybe Computers will never be as intelligent as Humans.
    For sure they won't ever become so stupid. [VR-1988]
  10. My rights online by Kohath · · Score: 1

    I'm glad my rights to watch Comedy Central on the net have been restored. Yet another defeat for the fascist anti-Comedy police state. Free at last.

    1. Re:My rights online by PadRacerExtreme · · Score: 1

      You have a right to watch some one else's copyrighted material online? On a third party provider? Your definition of right is much different than mine. I have a desire, but not a right.

      --
      Just remember - if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.
    2. Re:My rights online by Kohath · · Score: 1

      irony

    3. Re:My rights online by SeaFox · · Score: 1
      Yet another defeat for the fascist anti-Comedy police state.

      Well I, for one, welcome our fascist anti-comedic overlords. I'd like to remind them that as an avid internet user, I can be helpful in rounding up media pirates to toil in their underground reality-tv script caves.

  11. Think twice before you react by no_pets · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Perhaps YouTube should have made an example of Viacom and not restored the clips on their own. This would be useful in making future requests from other parties think twice before requesting clips be pulled.

    YouTube could have just told Viacom that the clips were pulled and that Viacom were free to upload them again assuming they specified that it was okay for the clips to be made available.

    --
    "A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." - Shepard Book Quoting Malcolm Reynolds
    1. Re:Think twice before you react by geoffspear · · Score: 1

      Right. And the next time Viacom found some of their content on YouTube, they'd file an expensive lawsuit instead of sending a polite takedown request letter. Somehow I don't think Google/YouTube really wants to go out of their way to piss off content owners, however much their customers might wish they did.

      --
      Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
    2. Re:Think twice before you react by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      YouTube is protected as a content provider under the DMCA as long as they comply with requests to remove content.

    3. Re:Think twice before you react by Skim123 · · Score: 1

      Hell, why not just buy Viacom and call it a day? Viacom's measley $2.34 billion market cap is nothing compared to Google's $142 billion.

      --

      I could not justify my existence if I were a turkey farmer. Would I terminate myself? Undoubtably, yes.

  12. Market segmentation by nakedforjesus · · Score: 0

    I understand Viacom's concern about loss of income from iTunes but I doubt that it would be too great. Maybe they're just realizing that people who might want shell out two bucks(per show) for the convenience of iTunes will still do so. With YouTube you don't have that convenience(in most cases), you get an episode broken up into several clips *if* somebody even cared to upload it.
    They also probably don't want to be seen as "bad guys" cracking down on filesharing.

  13. I can't find the clips anywhere! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm looking here. I guess the Internet really is just a bunch of tubes (or pipes, really). Now they're down!

  14. that was predictable. by twitter · · Score: 1
    --

    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.

  15. Google and you-tube by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just read an interesting take on the google - youtube deal. http://www.blogmaverick.com/2006/10/30/some-intima te-details-on-the-google-youtube-deal/

    1. Re:Google and you-tube by mcguyver · · Score: 1

      Speculation on Google / YouTube "Hardball" Posted by kdawson on Tuesday October 31, @04:39PM

      Welcome to (the day before) yesterday

  16. Does Youtube REALLY delete? by in2mind · · Score: 1
    For now, at least, the clips are back--even the long ones, so get your Colbert fix on before Viacom has another change of heart.

    Does all this mean that Youtube never 'really' deletes any clip a user deletes?

    1. Re:Does Youtube REALLY delete? by iabervon · · Score: 1

      They probably really delete clips that the users delete, but only disable clips they're requested to take down, in case it turns out that the entity requesting it doesn't have the authority or something.

    2. Re:Does Youtube REALLY delete? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good companies keep backups.

    3. Re:Does Youtube REALLY delete? by odujosh · · Score: 1

      Yes Sir. All Database enabled sites do this. They may later prune the older deleted files. But to always delete when the user says delete would cause uneeded upload time to be taken by the user is the yanker later decides it is not needed. If you are youtube afterall by definition you have more storage than US Liabary of Congress.

    4. Re:Does Youtube REALLY delete? by zcat_NZ · · Score: 1

      It's run by Google now..

      They never delete anything, ever.

      --
      455fe10422ca29c4933f95052b792ab2
  17. That wet, slurping sound you hear ... by Dr.+Smeegee · · Score: 1

    ... is the sound of Comedy Central's head leaving it's corporate sphincter. Now if only if the rest of the sountrack was "Constipation Blues" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, my day would be complete.

  18. They don't get restored to your "favorites" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They may have restored all of the clips, but they don't reappear in your "favorites" list - you're going to have to go back and "favorite" all of those clips again if you want to keep them bookmarked.

    Which sucks.

  19. Umm, not true for me? by fernandoh26 · · Score: 0

    I uploaded my "South Park Reloaded" animation a few months ago and it was killed 2 days ago, and it has not come back?

    http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=south+ park+reloaded&search=Search

    There are others who have uploaded my animation too, but their video is still on there. *scratches head*

    --
    Chums up, let's do this!
  20. What? by flitty · · Score: 1

    You mean allowing people to see our shows whenever they want will get us more viewers? Quick! Put those clips back up!

    --
    Whether or not there is some sort of god, I'm not supposed to say/god is a word and the argument ends there-Smog
  21. This is why we teach grammar in 2nd grade by mattwarden · · Score: 1

    Viacom is the parent company of Comedy Central, not YouTube (owned by Google), as the grammatical error in the summary implies.

    1. Re:This is why we teach grammar in 2nd grade by asylumx · · Score: 1

      Mod parent up please -- This is an excellent point, the summary is very confusing if you don't really know the context.

  22. Any publicity is good publicity by kabz · · Score: 2, Informative

    What next? Microsoft releases hax0r4d Vista to Pirate Bay?

    It looks to me like Comedy Central subscribe to the axiom 'any usage is good usage'. ;-)

    --
    -- "It's not stalking if you're married!" My Wife.
  23. CC gets it! by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When it comes to stuff like "The Daily Show" or "Colbert," these are programs that get shown once, rerun once, and then are mostly never seen again purely because of the topical nature of the shows. This isn't the sort of thing that fills out a DVD box all that well, they aren't really going to continue to profit directly from the old content once it's been and gone. This is why clips that get "youtubed" or rerun by CC on their own site and occasional "best ofs," are really the only way for people to continue to dig the old clips and drum up enthusiasm for the next episodes.

    CC has realized that either they work the "best of" angle solely on their own site, with however much manpower and costs that would entail, or let the fans do it themselves on YouTube. With YouTube, not only do they not deal with the workload, but the fans themselves are in charge of what is or isn't a "greatest hit." That's as it should be, and something that the content producers rarely if ever get right, since all they'd have to go on are surveys, focus groups, and other troublesome hit-or-miss schemes.

    1. Let the fans do the work of hyping up the shows.
    2. More hype = more audience for the next ones. There are no ???s.
    3. Profit!

    1. Re:CC gets it! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1. Let the fans do the work of hyping up the shows.
      2. More hype = more audience for the next ones. There are no ???s.
      3. Profit!


      Unfortunately, you're missing a key point. What it actually looks like is this:

      1. Let the fans hype up the show on YouTube.
      2. More hype for YouTube = more audience for the next ones on YouTube.
      3. Profit for YouTube!

      Tell me again how this is supposed to benefit the people who are actually doing the hard work of making these shows, or the people who are investing significant money in funding their production?

    2. Re:CC gets it! by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 1

      Because more hype created by the clips on YouTube also creates more audience for the next ones on TV or iTunes. This doesn't concern the full episodes people upload to YouTube, it's about the shorter clips from the show.

      From TFA: Numerous short clips did remain available on the site, fueling speculation that Viacom was only concerned about longer clips.

    3. Re:CC gets it! by dircha · · Score: 1

      But Comedy Central does potentially have an interest in controlling content on YouTube.

      If you didn't know, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are both available as subscriptions (well, "multi-pass") through iTunes at a price of $9.99 for 16 episodes.

      Now, people putting full episodes up on YouTube at quality that isn't that much less tolerable, obviously directly competes with this product.

      So I think we will see Viacom restricting the length of clips or the number of clips available for a single episode available on YouTube.

      I don't have cable as an option and I'm not willing to pay for dish. Until subscriptions were launched on iTunes, I watched both shows through YouTube and usually had no problem finding or piecing together complete, current episodes.

  24. The clips are what brought me in. by Stopher2475 · · Score: 0

    I know this is annecdotal but I didn't start watching The Daily Show and the Report until after I saw a bunch of good YouTube clips. Now I make sure to catch them every night.

  25. Run Doggie Run by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 1

    Run over here doggie. Now run over here. Good doggie!! Now pay me.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  26. Pleasant News by ewhac · · Score: 1
    I'm pleased to hear the Comedy Central stuff will be reappearing on GoogTube. Comedy Central has clips available on their own Web site, but the player is absolute crap. I never got it to work. YouTube's works, so this is a happy thing.

    Schwab

  27. Why they didn't embrace this from the start... by Reidsb · · Score: 0

    ...I'll never know. Such a great way to promote their shows. They should be uploading these themselves every week.

    1. Re:Why they didn't embrace this from the start... by Legatic · · Score: 1

      they didn't start doing it themselves because they aren't making any advertising revenue from it

      yeah, it is a good way to promote general awareness, but the money to make those shows has to come from somewhere

    2. Re:Why they didn't embrace this from the start... by Reidsb · · Score: 0

      Run some quick little adds before the clips. Or on the side. Perhaps Google adding their sidebar ads to youtube will solve this problem.

  28. Re:Colbert Report.... Shh! by patrixmyth · · Score: 1

    Here's the Daily Show Clip

    This is exactly the sort of coverage that makes Daily Show and You Tube important to our political process. Instead of Kerry's odd responses, I think this clip should be forwarded to anyone spouting off about how "offended" they were.

    --
    "Don't you know you're going to shock the monkey?"- Peter Gabriel
  29. I think the ArsTechnica report is wrong by reifman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There was another bigger purge last night: 78% of Daily Show Clips Missing from YouTube I wrote a script to analyze this ... Of 897 Daily Show videos on YouTube sampled, 699 were missing or broken. That's nearly 78% of Daily Show videos now taken down for alleged copyright infringement without any regard for fair use from what I can tell. More commentary on the week's events here: Truthiness is scarce at Viacom and YouTube this week

  30. Re:Comedy Central.. Chappell show by pacalis · · Score: 1
    I was surprised that Comedy Central pulled the show - the reason Chappelle show killed other DVD sales is becuase the online clips moved it from a sleeper to a hit.

    The tension probably arises from the fact that one arm (prob. comedy central) made an agreement with iTunes, whereas another arm (i.e. Viacom) profits from DVD sales and/or general ad revenue. Obviously iTunes is a stupid idea - who cares to see the whole show vs. a particular segment.

  31. I'm surprised by iabervon · · Score: 1

    I'm not surprised that they decided to make them available again. I'm surprised, though that they didn't leave them off YouTube and instead put them up officially on Google Video. I'd guess they have better encodings of their videos than are on youtube (at least based on how the copies of Weird Al's videos that he put up himself are so much better than the copies put up by other people). And if they put it on Google Video, they could probably work out a deal similar to this one and get some of the revenue from advertizing by the hosting site.

    It's just a bit odd for a copyright holder to specificly permit somebody to distribute a copy of something acquired from an unlicensed third party.

  32. You know whats going to suck? by Mateo_LeFou · · Score: 1

    Ten years from now, when every PHB who spent a decade trying to prevent people from sharing culture with each other has seen the light and starts issuing press releases about how they've discovered that filesharing is a cost-effective loss leader, etc.

    Meanwhile I suppose the geeks will begging the corporate & government tag-team to "allow" things like GNURadio, spectrum sharing, etc. And the beat goes on...

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    My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
  33. It's down by geekoid · · Score: 1

    Youtube seems to be down.

    here

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    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  34. No longer a need by jc42 · · Score: 1

    I just noticed yesterday that comedycentral.com has redone their entire web site, so that it now actually works. I even got several of my browsers to give me URLs for their clips.

    So it's now not necessary to have them on sites like youtube. They finally wised up and realized that their idiotic site mis-design was driving people away to the copycat sites, and losing them all the eyes that they were obviously trying to get looking at their ads.

    This is a disappointment in some circles, actually. Namely, the web-software testing crowd is disappointed. It used to be that if you wanted an example of a recalcitrant site that did nearly everything in the worst possible way, you just typed in "comedycentral.com" and voila! More worst-case test material than you could ever hope to find anywhere else.

    But that's all gone now. We testers will have to go back to collecting awful examples on a piecemeal basis, and hosting them on our own sites. Maybe we can get a discussion going of the old idea of having a test site explicitly for holding examples of everything wrong that has ever been found on any other site.

    Do you think the comedycentral.com folks would donate a snapshot of their old site as the seed material for such a test site?

    (It was especially fun to point out that the comedycentral.com ads all worked, while the "content" didn't. This was conclusive proof that they did know exactly what they were doing, and the fact that the "content" didn't work other than sporadically wasn't an accident at all. ;-)

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    Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
  35. Clips over 5 minutes by jaaron · · Score: 1

    According to some videos I saw on YouTube (can't find the link right now), it looked like only clips over 5 minutes were pulled.

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    Who said Freedom was Fair?
  36. The number 1 way to tell its Cult... by geekoid · · Score: 1

    Is that it needs more cowbell!

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    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  37. Here's one reason... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For one, Scientology has its own law firm, which it uses on those who criticize it. It's not so much the sci-fi religion that disturbs me, anyhow, but rather the organization behind it.

    Believe it or not, people can be concerned about more than one thing at a time. Well, people other than you can, at least.

  38. I wonder what this means for Utube... by davidsyes · · Score: 1

    I saw in the news a company named Utube that is or is considering suing YouTube to "force YouTube to change its name or to get YouTube to help us find a new domain name", so I heard in the news.

    One would think that companies with conflicting names would have an arbiter or someplace to submit their name so that a heuristic or some-such program would be Google-like and display as screen saying:

    "Your request is remarkably similar to the name of a valid company that is receiving an extraordinary number of of irrelevant or non-transacting visits. Do you really want to visit:

    O Utube, the machinery and tubing manufacturer or

    O YouTube, the Comedy Central video clips site?

    Please choose."

    Thank you, and from all of us, our apologies for intercepting and delaying your page request.

    Jeez UGLY Louise. How FRAKIN' hard is that to do? It would cut down on frivolous or almost-valid-but-avoidable lawsuits.

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    Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
    1. Re:I wonder what this means for Utube... by Shadyman · · Score: 1
  39. or as observed by others... by johnlenin1 · · Score: 1

    "Cult: a small, unpopular religion
    Religion: a large, popular cult"

    1. Re:or as observed by others... by grub · · Score: 1

      That was my /. sig for a loooong time :) It almost looks like you cut and pasted it!

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      Trolling is a art,
  40. i thank thee... by DarrylKegger · · Score: 1

    oh kind and gracious corptocracy; your infinite generosity fills me
    with an obsequiousness that knows no bounds.

  41. Shareware by DeadCatX2 · · Score: 1

    This is shareware in a different medium, that's all.

    Give a short clip on YouTube that covers a particularly funny or satirical moment in the show. People can then browse at their leisure the "best of" a particular show. This drives viewers to the designated distribution channels to get the full content.

    Stop thinking like a selfish content producer. Give the people what they want and they will come.

    And stop thinking that any piracy is all bad. Piracy is unavoidable. Some people will either be too poor or too stingy to buy your content. If making it easy for a thousand people to find your show results in a hundred people pirating content, guess what - those thousand people are going to make you richer even though you "lost money to the pirates", because had you put resitrictions in place to prevent those hundred pirates from stealing your content^W^W^Winfringing on your copyright, those thousand people wouldn't be making you richer.

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  42. Re:Colbert Report.... Shh! by parkrrrr · · Score: 1

    What a lovely demonstration of why nobody is scared of the "analog hole."

    Couldn't they have filmed it through a pane of frosted glass while holding the camera at an "artsy" angle, just to make it even lower quality?

  43. Landmark pays taxes (was Re:A good start...) by elwinc · · Score: 1
    Parent poster is saying things true of Scientology but not true of Landmark Forum. CoS is identified and treated by the U.S. Government as a religion. That means it pays zero taxes and keeps its finances entirely to itself. Landmark Forum is identified and treated by the U.S. Government as a for-profit corporation. That means it pays taxes and its financial records are subject to audits whenever the IRS sees fit (and they do). These are very significant differences.

    The main thing they have in common is that they both ask you to "enroll" your friends & aquaintances. If they were the only two organizations that did that maybe the parent would be right, but of course Amway and many "non-cult" religions ask you to do the same.

    One other thing they have in common, but it'll take some explaining. Landmark Forum is essentially a re-naming of 70's/80's organization called Erhard Seminars Training, or EST for short. EST was also a for-profit corporation, founded by a guy born under the name of Jack Rosenberg, who left his wife & family, changed his name to Werner Erhard, and started the organization (yes, I'm leaving out lots more ugly Jack/Werner history; go ahead and google for it). Somewhere along the way, Werner/Jack joined up with Scientology. I'm not sure how long he was involved, but the way the story was told in EST, he tried a whole bunch of those 70s things (sorry, can't find a suitable group adjective) like ROLFing, Esalen, before starting his own thing. Oh, here's a good name: "Large Group Awareness Therapy organizations."

    Personal disclosure: I took the EST thing, AKA "the Training" back in the early 80's and volunteered in the organization for about 2 years and took a few less intensive "seminars". "The Training" was very good for me personally though I was lousy at "enrolling" others. I got diminishing returns from the seminars. Part of my agenda in volunteering was to sniff around for the dirt. I didn't find any of that either. Eventually I dropped out. There were one or two phone calls, but once I told them definitely that I no longer wanted to do EST stuff, they let me alone and have done so for 20 years. I don't regret the money I spent; I don't regret the time I spent; all in all I'm glad I did it. But who knows; maybe I'm still brainwashed!!

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    --- Often in error; never in doubt!
  44. Re:Colbert Report.... Shh! by Rosonowski · · Score: 1

    Well, with the right display, the right lighting, and a tripod, I think you could manage a decent "analog hole" copy. But yeah, a lot of those are crap.

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