October 10th, 2006 at 1:29 am
(Can’t help but write 3 Google related posts in the past couple of days but I promise this will be my last for a while)
If you have not heard by now, the big buzz on Wall Street and around the net is that Google bought YouTube for $1.65 Billion. It does look like a sound business transaction for YouTube (a profitless outfit of around 60 people) but is it for Google?
Google has the deep pockets to take YouTube to the next level and capitalize on the next big web trend, but its purchase may trigger huge multiple legal battles relating to copyright infringements reminiscent of Napster. Think about the many Star Wars, Family Guy, American Idol, Disney and other homemade video feeds that are distributed without permission. I won’t be surprise if there is a sudden influx of subpoenas to get the names of YouTube and Google Video users with lawsuits to follow.
Mark Cuban, who founded Broadcast.com, an early audio and video site that was bought by Yahoo, is even more skeptical of Google’s legal position, writing on his blog: “I still think Google lawyers will be a busy, busy bunch. I don’t think you can sue Google into oblivion, but as others have mentioned, if Google gets nailed one single time for copyright violation, there are going to be more shareholder lawsuits than Doan’s has pills to go with the pile-on copyright suits that follow.”
Personally, I hope it won’t happen as it is such a great resource for humor and entertainment of all sorts but I do have to respect the rights of information in any form. However, while some of them may be genuinely concerned with pirating, and illegal distribution of video material, I would have to seriously question the motive of the others. I believe that a large handful may want to jump on the gravy train to profit from draining some of the richness out of Google’s deep pockets.
From a consumer standpoint, we may lose out a little as we may start to see irritating 10-20 second advertising related mechanisms in an attempt to justify their purchase and appease the copyright holders - a bad thing for me as I hate ads in multimedia. Technology wise, we’ll have all to gain with the inclusion of Google’s savvy search engine capabilities and other useful utilities/widgets.
I am confident that Google has explored all possible outcomes (as proven with recent deals made with Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, the CBS television network and Warner). But then, there are the other big boys on the entertainment block yet to be resolved.
They better be ready for the barrage of legal lawsuits and to challenge the potential legal issues that may arise. I can see their legal team working overtime - well into the future and beyond. Losing is not an option, it may be the end of YouTube.
4 Responses to “YouTube acquisition: Good or bad?”
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janvangogh said: @ 7:52 am
October 10th, 2006
I saw that too about YouTube. The news said it gets something like 100 million views a day. As an artist I am thinking I need to put something together and get it on there. Even a small percentage of those numbers would be great exposure.
I dont know if you are on the marathon today, but just in case, Dr John sent me :-)
Kind world said: @ 9:13 am
October 10th, 2006
I love both you tube and google, and hopefully like you said, google will be prepared for any legal issues. I think perhaps they should just crackdown on copyright stuff now before it gets out of hand
kat campbell said: @ 1:22 pm
October 10th, 2006
I’m afraid you’ll probably be right. When big company like Disney tries to go after an individual they look like a bad guy, but when it’s a corporation like Google… they’re just taking what’s theirs.
kristendom said: @ 10:38 pm
October 15th, 2006
I like Google and trust anything they do. So, I think is for the best. Google will take YouTube to the limit…just like they do with searches!