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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Future of Cultural Programming
Posted on June 7, 2010
Phil Leigh
Last year Michael Kaiser of the J.F.K. Performing Arts Center lamented that Arts Programming was vanishing from TV. Since most PBS stations lack the money for quality recording of local performances, he concludes that PBS should reorganize. Instead of relying upon local affiliate productions, he prefers that the parent organization “determine the best in American arts and fund its broadcast across the nation”. Presumably that means PBS must reduce its financial contributions to affiliates, or get Congress give more than the $400 million it presently donates annually – 90% of which passes thorough to local stations.
Download Audio Narration to iPod, iPad, and iPhone here.
Like many leaders of slowly changing businesses, Kaiser fails to recognize how fast the Internet already shifted the ground under his feet. While focusing on PBS and taxpayer subsidies, he neglects to notice that a critical mass of top-quality cultural programming already populates the Net. One example is YouTube which provides three advantages over conventional television. First, it’s free. Second, viewers may watch at anytime instead of designated broadcast times. Third, it’s searchable. Read more…
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Apple, Occam’s Razor, and Adobe Flash
Posted on April 15, 2010
Phil Leigh
In the 14th century William of Ockham originated a logic principle later known as Occam’s Razor. Boiled down, it concludes that the simplest explanation for a phenomenon is usually the valid one. For example, although Ptolemy’s geocentric model predicted planetary locations with reasonable accuracy, it was much more complex than the valid Copernican heliocentric model. By implication the Razor endorsed the Copernican model and even anticipated it by 100 years. Similarly the principle implies that Oswald acted alone, President Harding died of natural causes, and that Special Order 191 was lost through carelessness and not espionage.
To hear podcast on iPhone, iPad, or iPod click here.
Adobe’s Flash format accounts for about 80% of Web video, including YouTube. The only reason we can watch YouTube on our iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads is because the videos play through a special application. But when we visit websites containing Flash videos and advertisements with such devices, we simply can’t see them unless the hosting websites created special applications enabling them to play. That’s the principal reason a year ago that Inside Digital Media started using the YouTube player to exhibit the videos we record and post at our website. The situation is further complicated by the fact that video podcasts must be in yet another format favored by Apple, because podcasts are downloaded while Flash typically is streamed. 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.
To play audio on iPhone, iPod, or iPad, click here.
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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Television of the Future
Posted on November 28, 2009
If you want to learn what the future of television will look like, this video podcast is for you.
Despite recent publicity about favorable consumer response to services providing only limited Internet Videos at our TVs, ultimately nearly everyone will demand unlimited Internet access on televisions. Services like Amazon-Video-on-Demand, iTunes, and Netflix Watch Instantly via devices such as TiVo, Blu-Ray Players, and Xboxes are merely going to whet consumer appetites for unrestricted Internet access on TVs. Read more…
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Consumers Want Internet on TV
Posted on November 21, 2009
Phil Leigh
If you would like to learn just how rapidly consumers are gaining interest in obtaining unlimited Internet access on their TVs, this podcast is for you.
We have long predicted that consumers will ultimately want unlimited Internet access of their TVs. It enables them to watch any Internet video in a lean-back viewing experience from their living room sofa. Moreover, given a remote mouse and keyboard, it empowers them to use the TV as a giant window into the Internet for any purpose, including e-mail, online shopping, or Web surfing. Read more…
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Public Reaction to Targeted Advertising
Posted on October 17, 2009
Dr. Joseph Turow, University of Pennsylvania
If you would like to learn what the public says about their attitudes toward behaviorally-targeted advertising, this audio interview is for you.
A recent study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California at Berkeley concludes that a two-to-one majority of Americans do not want marketers to tailor advertisements to their interests. The 1,000-person survey further indicates that nearly 90% of us particularly object to anonymous tracking of our Web-surfing for purposes of creating behaviorally-targeted ads.
Our interview today is with Dr. Joseph Turow of the University of Pennsylvania who was one of the authors. Read more…
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YouTube Stretches its Lead
Posted on October 10, 2009
If you want to learn one way that YouTube is extending its competitive lead, even against rivals like Hulu, this video is for you.
If you watched last week’s video podcast as a stream from our website, you may have noticed that we switched to the YouTube player from our previous Flash player. The change reflects the fact that iPhones and iPods will not display native Flash streams. However, given YouTube’s popularity, Apple developed a special application enabling the units to display YouTube Flash videos. Since Apple has sold about 40 – 50 million of the devices, we want to make it as easy as possible for users to watch Inside Digital Media on their iPhones and iPod Touches. Read more…
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