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YouTube Set To Filter Content

An anonymous reader writes "Computerworld reports that Google is racing to head off a media industry backlash over its video Web site YouTube and will soon offer antipiracy technologies to help all copyright holders thwart unauthorized video sharing. But YouTube has also said that the process of identifying copyrighted material is not automated and will require the cooperation of media company partners."

28 of 76 comments (clear)

  1. Make them watch it all by zoftie · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Which basically means that google will make recording companies work and watch through each one of the videos beginning to the end, to remove them. So at least I hope.

    1. Re:Make them watch it all by cdrudge · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'd rather imagine being the lucky guy that DOESN'T have to watch 100 Britney videos, every day, as his job.

    2. Re:Make them watch it all by alphamugwump · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I don't know about that; I'd think that'd be a pretty cushy job. Sort of like being paid to check porn to see if it should be censored. Of course, it might get a little futile flagging episode after episode of naruto, just to see them come back again.

      Actually, unless they can implement some kind of effective computerized filtering, they're never going to stop uploads; they'd have to hire an small army. Of course, I don't really see what the big deal is anyway; nobody who was serious about a show would watch it in low resolution on youtube; they'd either buy it or use P2P. If I was them, I'd try to cut my losses and recoup as much ad revenue as I could; that stuff is getting views, but ads are about as much as anyone would be willing to "pay" for it.

      I'm also surprised they haven't tried any viral marketing stunts; the medium would be perfect for stirring up interest in new shows. Hell, it already does, but they're too stuck in the past to take advantage of it. I mean, we all heard about the publicity for the leaked 24 episodes -- if they could do something like that on purpose, along with a coordinated marketing flood on the "traditional" media, they could clean up.

    3. Re:Make them watch it all by robot_lords_of_tokyo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I mean, we all heard about the publicity for the leaked 24 episodes -- if they could do something like that on purpose, along with a coordinated marketing flood on the "traditional" media, they could clean up.
      Who says it wasn't done on purpose...
    4. Re:Make them watch it all by ParticleGirl · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You said "unless they can implement some kind of effective computerized filtering, they're never going to stop uploads; they'd have to hire an small army."

      Even if they can implement some kind of effective computerized filtering, how long will it stay effective? Even the article admits that "protecting copyrighted material is likely to involve an endless cat-and-mouse game to keep pace with hackers bent on breaking such security tools." So yeah, this quote takes a criminal-element view of hackers, but the fact remains that any technology will have to constantly evolve to remain effective, and that non-automated filtering (making them sift through every single video to identify copyrighted content, bless their souls) will probably be the only way.
       
      In my opinion, either they don't let everyone upload (the extreme top-down control method; bad for business if you're YouTube; bad for the free-as-in-speech AND the free-as-in-beer sets) and copyrighted content is not as widely accessible (less recognition, less money for the little guys; more money for the big guys; the RIAA is the real winner) ...or they let everyone upload, and the [few] concerned parties have to look out for their own interests. Maybe they'll have to resort to watching all of the uploaded content, if they can manage to find the manpower.

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  2. So content will start being dropped by nurb432 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And more people will know that the industries are evil, will stop buying their product. Then they will claim it was 'piracy', when its their own damned fault for producing crap, and acting like total morons.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    1. Re:So content will start being dropped by garcia · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And more people will know that the industries are evil, will stop buying their product. Then they will claim it was 'piracy', when its their own damned fault for producing crap, and acting like total morons.

      And the media companies, which control media distribution :shock:, will continue to bombard the public with their scare tactics (which so far, for the general public, have been successful).

      As I said before, YouTube will just become the Napster of video. Most people weren't all pissed off about the industry when they shut that down, they just moved to LimeWire, BitTorrent, allofmp3, and iTS.

    2. Re:So content will start being dropped by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The Daily Show is not crap

  3. Consistency. please by poptones · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So... they just produce "crap," but then people post it and many people watch and enjoy it. Or... it's not piracy if it's crap?

    Ultimately they may be shooting themselves in the foot, but the fact is there are LOTS of shows and movies posted on youtube in their entirety. They're idiots if they start taking down short "best of" clips, but I don't think Youtube was ever envisioned as a place where you could go add the complete Boondock Saints to your playlist.

    1. Re:Consistency. please by peragrin · · Score: 2, Informative

      copyright law allows for fair use. That includes taking sections of TV shows and using them in your own work. you can't use it all, and you must credit them, but it is still possible.

          Heck most major TV news shows do just that.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
  4. Good by nbritton · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Who goes to Youtube to watch their crap anyways? It's called YOU tube for a reason, if we wanted that crap on there we would have called it payperview.com.

  5. Like any open forum... by tomstdenis · · Score: 2, Insightful

    YouTube is mostly filled with shite and personal opinions the likes of which nobody gives a rats ass about (kinda like lf and myspace). Why not just moderate clips before they go public? Oh shit, cuz then you couldn't have everyone and their brother uploading clips [legit or otherwise].

    Frankly, I compare YouTube to a mix of "America's Funniest Videos" and myspace. A mass conglomeration of shite I just can't fathom caring about. Combine that with the need for Flash and I have all the reason I need to avoid the site [and the like].

    Tom

    --
    Someday, I'll have a real sig.
    1. Re:Like any open forum... by tomstdenis · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Slashdot has less emo and vanity. Sure it's got ego, but that I can stand. Emo's piss me off because they don't know suffering, and vanity pisses me off because it's fleeting. Ego at least is humourous.

      Tom

      --
      Someday, I'll have a real sig.
    2. Re:Like any open forum... by Turn-X+Alphonse · · Score: 2, Informative

      Don't forget the people who really suffer also get blown off and labeled emo by everyone instead of getting the support and help they need.

      --
      I like muppets.
    3. Re:Like any open forum... by psu_whammy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      But then there's the "what happened last night" aspect of it. If something crazy happened on TV last night, you can guarantee it'll be on YouTube the following morning. It's this kind of archival aspect that YouTube took on that makes it so popular: because much like Google, you could find anything on YouTube. Not anymore.

  6. And So YouTube Regains Its Amateur Status by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Which is correct and as it should be. If someone wants to have their work represented and distributed professionally and through traditional means, they make a deal with a publisher or label or studio to do so. That artist then goes back to making art, and the distributor does the distributing, for a cut. (How big is the cut? How onerous are the terms? They're specified in the contract you just signed. Print too small? You're too naive? Get a lawyer.)

    Or you can distribute your stuff yourself, via outlets like YouTube, and let the wonderful viral-ness of the 'net's waves push your masterpiece from desktop to desktop around the world. The promotion is free, and you can get compensated via donations (*ahem*) and by selling tickets to your performances (good luck with that, you novelists...)

    Which distribution method is better? Don't know, but at least with Google being forced to obey the law, the artist will have a legitimate choice.

    The dirty secret, the Truth Which Dare Not Speak Its Name, in all this, is that the chuckleheads lip-synching to "Barbie Girl" and doing art-school Claymation re-enactments of the Trojan War got off on having their work up there on the virtual shelf next to Madonna's and Jon Stewart's and Spielberg's. Now that they are once again being sent back to the children's table, the whining (ostensibly about "artist's rights" and "fair use") will be deafening.

    1. Re:And So YouTube Regains Its Amateur Status by itsdapead · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The dirty secret, the Truth Which Dare Not Speak Its Name, in all this, is that the chuckleheads lip-synching to "Barbie Girl"...

      ...which would probably be enough to prompt a takedown notice from the MAFIAA (and probably the manufacturers of Barbie too)

      The problem is not the (quite reasonable) desire to stop flagrent mass distribution of entire copyrighted works. I have little sympathy for the demise of original Napster et. al. - which doesn't mean that I do have sympathy for the record labels, who should be doing more to provide a legitimate, reasonably-priced alternative.

      The problem is the conceit that any breach of copyright, however small and technical, somehow does irreperable harm to the copyright holder and justifies lawyers at dawn; and the tendency for the full weight of the law (and the whole DRM circus) to be focussed on such infringements because they are "softer" targets than the organised, large-scale operations that might actually have a commercial impact (and have the resources to work-around DRM).

      --
      In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
  7. to all the ubergeeks... by cosmocain · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ... ;) as TFA mentions, this process of cheching for copyrighted material ist not automated.

    i wonder, is there e technical/software based/automated possibility to check contents at all, except for watermarks, etc, embedded in the video? i can't think of any (that's possibly the cause for my being not a millionaire)

    1. Re:to all the ubergeeks... by eneville · · Score: 2, Interesting

      ... ;) as TFA mentions, this process of cheching for copyrighted material ist not automated.

      i wonder, is there e technical/software based/automated possibility to check contents at all, except for watermarks, etc, embedded in the video? i can't think of any (that's possibly the cause for my being not a millionaire) it can be automated. looking for particular actors faces should be possible. in the uk we have face recognition systems for cctv. it would not be impossible to go through uploaded videos looking for actors faces.
  8. YouTube, not TheirTube by LoudMusic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm ok with this. After all it's called "YouTube", not "TheirTube". People should be posting original works only. That was the point of YouTube in the first place.

    --
    No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
    1. Re:YouTube, not TheirTube by cliffski · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So there's no possibility that anyone who makes TV shows or movies that get uploaded to YouTube against their copyright could possibly not be as EVIL as the mafia and/or hitler / satan?

      I don't understand this slashdot obsession that anyone who makes original content and wants to enforce copyright is somehow worse than osama bin laden? Nobody cared about people enforcing copyright 20 years ago. Just suddenly when everyone finds it easy to break the law, everyone gets upset about it being enforced.
      weird.

      --
      DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
  9. Why did anyone mod this up? by TheVelvetFlamebait · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I can't seem to decide whether it was due to the "industries are evil" comment, the "acting like total morons" comment, or the "producing crap comment". Maybe it's all three. Maybe it's desperate hope that filtering copyrighted content from public broadcasts (yes I am aware of the DMCA provisions for these things) will make people think "Bastards! I'll never be entertainment industry slave again!" /flamebait

    Seriously though, I see nothing wrong with youtube siding with record industry. Why not? Are they not entitled to their own position on the copyright debate?

    In future, add more content, and less name-calling/non-sensical spin.

    --
    You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
  10. Having recently discovered youtube... by 3seas · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I have to agree that copyright holders need to have the rights over their content, whether or not it is on youtube.

    Copyright holders can certainly help find content that should not be on youtube. But finding piracy of their works should not be a burden on them.

    The responsibility really lies with the uploaders to obtain proper releases for works they are not fully in charge of.

    On the flip side, copyright holders have to realize the marketing potential of such media as youtube. From what I have seen, the video is either downgraded in its capture and/or the connection speed, so its not like you are getting purchase quality, though audio is not so bad.

    I've seen numerious videos where credit is given and even where to get purchase quality.
    But as a marketing tool, the work is findable in the search engine with taging.

    I'd hate to see alot of the content vanish. but there is alot of duplication too.
    Perhaps what is needed is some assurance from youtube that the quality will always be under what you can purchase, unless there is some formal release is on hand.

    in the mean time, and I probably shouldn't do this as slashdotting a resource won't help me use it, but there is a firefox plugin for capturing such video to your local hard drive, but it goes thru another url to do so and sometimes its overloaded. Get your favorite videos that may vanish, while you can.

    1. Re:Having recently discovered youtube... by Phil246 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      finding it with tagging only works so long as users accurately tag the content.
      The moment they stop doing that, it becomes a whoooole lot harder to find things.

  11. This isn't about copyright rights... by johnlcallaway · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's free for me to watch it over the public airwaves, and copy it with my VCR, DVD, or on my computer. So maybe this isn't really about copyright. Maybe it's about ad revenue. Something the media companies don't get when it's shown on YouTube, or shared no matter what the medium or source.

    Yet YouTube gets ad revenue whenever a page is shown....hmmmm...me thinks a smart media company would have a solution here. Create your own page for your own show, and upload the videos in slightly better format than the crappy YouTube format, but still not as good as a direct copy. Work out a deal with YouTube for a percentage of the ad revenue, or put a 10 sec. ad in front of it like NBC does for the shows you can watch on their site and get revenue from that advertiser.

    It's like getting caught in a rip tide. You can fight it, but the rip tide won't go away. Or, you can learn to work with it a little bit, ease the fight, and eventually get out of it.

    --
    I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.
    1. Re:This isn't about copyright rights... by multisync · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It's free for me to watch it over the public airwaves


      Not sure which definition of "free" you're working off this morning, but you are expected to watch the advertisements of the sponsors who paid for those "free" programmes in exchange for watching them. The industry has been very clear on this point: if you don't watch the ads, you are stealing.

      If you are required to do anything in exchange for watching the programme, it isn't "free."
      --
      I don't care why you're posting AC
  12. Aha! by poptones · · Score: 2, Insightful

    But that's just it: fair use allows certain repurposing of the work in other (your own) works. But when all you are doing is stripping out 30 seconds and posting it to a sharing site, you are not adding any new context or value. Copyright holders may turn a blind eye toward such use, but they don't have to.

    Producers may not mind yet another repost of Abigail Breslin running around the kitchen screaming or chasing after a VW van, but those people who keep reposting her "funny dance" are essentially giving away the punchline to the entire movie. Never mind that also removes her "funny dance" from its original context and potentially changes its meaning into something much darker than intended, it also blows the ending of a great movie for those who have yet to see it.

    The people who invested considerable energy and time into creating such a work deserve the right to protect the work from such misuse. Not forever, sure, but the work needs to be given at least enough time to realize its full potential value.

  13. They *can*automate the identifcation of copyright by edunbar93 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    the process of identifying copyrighted material is not automated

    Well, it *could* be, if they implemented RFC 3514.

    --
    "No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert