Why YouTube Beat Viacom
Posted on August 1, 2010
Our guest today is Jim Burger who is a copyright attorney with Dow, Lhones in Washington, D.C.
Three-and-a-half years ago Viacom asked YouTube to “take-down” 100,000 unauthorized postings of Viacom-copyrighted content. YouTube complied completely within a day. A month later Viacom filed a complaint in the Southern District Court of New York seeking statutory damages against Google (YouTube’s parent) for copyright infringement. Copyright statutes specify that damage awards can be as much as $150,000 per violation thereby representing a potential Google vulnerability of $15 billion. Viacom owns Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, BET, and similar media properties.
Download interview audio for iPad, iPhone, and iPod here.
The court selected by Viacom is traditionally sympathetic to copyright holders. But in June it ruled decisively in favor of YouTube. Read more…
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Ten Months Ahead of Bloomberg
Posted on May 31, 2010
Prompted by the recent GoogleTV announcement, last week Bloomberg-BusinessWeek reported that the product concept would revolutionize advertising in two ways. First, it would lead to a new policy whereby sponsors only pay for ads that get watched. Second, it would enable video ads to be better targeted.
However, regular Inside Digital Media subscribers recognize that we’ve been chanting this mantra since last July’s Future Developments in Video Advertising research report. Another example is our Thinking the Unthinkable about Video Ads last September. Read more…
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GoogleTV is Significant
Posted on May 21, 2010
Yesterday Google, Sony, Intel, Logitech, DishNetworks, Adobe, and BestBuy announced a collaborative effort permitting consumers to conveniently access the Internet at their TV screens while simultaneously integrating with conventional television programming. Importantly, the CEOs of each participating company appeared on the stage as Google TV was officially introduced.
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As software GoogleTV may be incorporated into hardware products from most any reputable manufacturer. Yesterday’s participants are only the early examples. Logitech will make an appliance that will transform any modern TV into GoogleTV. Sony will include it in new models of TVs and Blu-ray players. DISH, a satellite TV service, will install it on subscriber DVRs.
Regular subscribers know for over a year Inside Digital Media has repeatedly emphasized that the natural evolution of television is toward just such a concept. One example is this post about our February ’09 Third Generation Television market research report – 15 months ago.
GoogleTV is significant for two reasons. Read more…
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Two Conflicting Music Opportunites
Posted on April 26, 2010
Phil Leigh
The Internet presents the music industry with two potent but conflicting opportunities.
First, it can replace radio as a more effective tool for promoting music while simultaneously avoiding costly disguised forms of payola that continue to linger. This applies not only to new releases, which traditionally have been the industry’s lifeblood, but also to old tracks which often fall into minimal demand.
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Read more…
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Television Obsolescence
Posted on March 29, 2010
Phil Leigh
Television industry incumbents often assert that Internet Video is an impractical alternative for conventional television for two reasons. First, they argue that Internet video distribution is presently a money losing business and is likely to remain so for many years. Second, they claim gigantic investments in network infrastructure are required before the Web can reliably deliver video to television-sized screens.
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While such statements are not without basis, they are invalid for two reasons. First, they are exaggerated beyond the point of relevance. Second, they ignore the offsetting advantages of Internet distribution. Read more…
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A Year Ahead of Google
Posted on March 19, 2010
On Wednesday, The New York Times reported a secret initiative termed GoogleTV that is a collaborative effort among Google, Intel, Sony, and Logitech. Essentially the plan is to provide an appliance enabling televisions to also function as browser-or-app-centric viewing screens for an abundance of Internet content and applications. As regular subscribers know, for over a year we have repeatedly emphasized that the natural evolution of television is toward just such a product. One example is this post about our February ’09 Third Generation Television market research report.
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Two points about GoogleTV as reported are particularly important. Read more…
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Lessons from a Digital Media Pioneer
Posted on January 23, 2010
Phil Leigh
Like the lost adventurer Carnehan from Rudyard Kipling’s The Man Who Would be King, RealNetworks crept back into the news with the recent resignation of its CEO and Founder, Rob Glaser. Also like Carnehan Real hardly resembled the robust $12 billion market value industry leader it was at the turn of the Century having since dropped 95% in stock price. While Carnehan had an amazing story to tell, at least Glaser has an edifying one. Read more…
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It’s the Stoopid Economy
Posted on November 14, 2009
Phil Leigh
During the first three decades of the twentieth century the most promising invention was radio.
Scientists could see a clear evolutionary path for the technology that would revolutionize everyday life. The trip from the dots-and-dashes of Morse code, to audio transmission, and eventually to television, was all a matter of learning how to manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum. Unlike a fanciful speculation like teleportation, such things were undeniably possible within the theory underlying Maxwell’s equations. Read more…
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