BBC raises video sharing stakes

At the same time, there is no shortage of competition in this multi-billion dollar industry which has opened a hornet\'s next of legal issues. In its announcement, the BBC said it would offer branded \'channels\' on YouTube. In terms of the deal, YouTube will create a channel called \'BBC Worldwide\' to show clips from hit BBC programmes. Playfuls.com reports that the new contract comes at a time when content owners like Viacom and Fox are asking for the removal of their shows from the site, due to copyright infringement. The BBC is by far the most important content owner that has agreed to legally post its content on YouTube at this point. The BBC is in search for new ways to increase its audience, while YouTube tries to ease down criticism about copyrighted materials and the site’s negligence concerning this issue. In other developments, News Corp. may soon allow members of its MySpace Web site to embed Fox TV shows and other Fox video on their home pages, marking a huge step toward generating greater revenue from the world\'s largest social networking site. Business Week reports that an announcement could be made as early as next month. Meanwhile, news that online TV platform Joost will add more programmes to its growing inventory of TV shows with international TV programme distributor JumpTV has the media buzzing with speculation of its growing threat to YouTube. However, ITWire reports that it YouTube and Joost are actually entirely different beasts. Joost is global TV on the Internet and, thus, will become a competitor to local cable and free-to-air TV providers. There is no interactivity involved, there is no uploading of video content, there is no social networking component. Current TV providers, however, must be quaking in their boots because Joost is global and it will enable Internet consumers to pull down their content at a time and place of their choosing. A new South African video portal has also entered the market and is promoting a safe and smut-free social Web. According to a Media Web release, MyVideo is South African born and bred – and seeks to stay that way by encouraging South African generated content to be aired and shared on it. MyVideo.co.za is also breaking new ground with its monitoring and surveillance systems that block out the curse of the Internet – unsolicited pornography and cyber-stalking. \'We realise that access to pornography and unsuitable imagery, especially to youngsters, is of major concern to parents. We have succeeded in introducing particular methods that enable the flagging of unsavoury content and its removal: anyone can flag a video for investigation and it is immediately blocked to all other users until we have assessed it,\' said CE Rowan Polovin. Full playfuls.com report Full Business Week report Full ITWire report Full Media Web release

Five months have passed since Google acquired YouTube for $1.65bn, and the copyright issues are murkier than ever. SFGate.com reports that even as it strikes more than 1 000 agreements to put basketball games, classic television shows and other material online, Google faces mounting pressure from Hollywood to manage the copyrighted clips that continue to appear inappropriately on its YouTube site. Pirated clips began appearing on YouTube almost since its inception two years ago. One in particular, a Saturday Night Live skit, even helped put the site on the map. YouTube is now under more pressure than before to strike deals to publish those clips legitimately and remove the ones that aren\'t. Media companies have been frustrated by the endless cycle of pirated clips. Even as one is taken down, another pops up in its place. Full SFGate.com report