Good luck getting those Colbert Report clips up on YouTube now, you dirty video pirates. Google, ever on the cusp of breaking technology, has just released a new copyright filtration system to monitor YouTube. Think of it as an unstoppable cybernetic phantom that hunts down and obliterates offending material.
Or think of it more realistically: the system involves a sprawling database of copyrighted material that Google can compare to content going up on YouTube. If the files match, the new video goes down. Interestingly enough, copyright holders can also choose to allow the pirated clips to remain online, but with ads for the rights holder's material placed around it. Profiting from piracy? What a brave new world we live in...
Wired reports "mixed reviews" of the new system.
"While Google should be commended for its effort, we don't think that any automated process will be able to determine whether a consumer's fair use rights are being violated," Gigi B. Sohn, President of Public Knowledge, told the website.
The general counsel for Viacom, which is still trying to sue the pants off of Google over copyright issues, actually sounded quite pleased.
"We're delighted that Google appears to be stepping up to its responsibility and ending the practice of profiting from infringement," said counsel Mike Fricklas to the Wall Street Journal.
Julia Boorstin of CNBC.com wonders if the system - which requires large media corporations to compile decades worth of content for comparison - is simply "too labor intensive." Hey, no one said holding copyrights was easy.
Related links:
YouTube.com
Toronto Star: YouTube sponsors backing video chat
Paste: NBC Partners with YouTube
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