"have": YouTube is an single corporate entity and not plural
While I agree entirely with most of your points, the usage of "have" when referring to a corporate entity is appropriate depending on country of origin.
In American English, we refer to corporations, countries, or other large collective entitites as a singular body. The word "has" is appropriate in our usage.
Brits, however, refer to large collective entities as a representation of the plurality of individuals making up the entity. (I apologize if the grammar of the preceeding sentence is not correct.) Therefore the phrase "YouTube have come down" is incorrect if written by an American or an individual from a country with similar grammatical rules concerning collective entities. The phrase is, however, correct if written by a Brit or an individual from a country with similar grammatical rules.
Slashdot Mirror
"have": YouTube is an single corporate entity and not plural
While I agree entirely with most of your points, the usage of "have" when referring to a corporate entity is appropriate depending on country of origin. In American English, we refer to corporations, countries, or other large collective entitites as a singular body. The word "has" is appropriate in our usage. Brits, however, refer to large collective entities as a representation of the plurality of individuals making up the entity. (I apologize if the grammar of the preceeding sentence is not correct.) Therefore the phrase "YouTube have come down" is incorrect if written by an American or an individual from a country with similar grammatical rules concerning collective entities. The phrase is, however, correct if written by a Brit or an individual from a country with similar grammatical rules.