Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Youtube shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Youtube offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Youtube at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Youtube? Wrong! If the Youtube is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Youtube then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Youtube? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Youtube and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Youtube wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Youtube then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Youtube site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Youtube, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Youtube, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{{Infobox Dotcom company| company_name = YouTube, LLC| company_slogan = Broadcast Yourself| owner = Google of [Google, [2005, [California, Founder & [Chief technical officer Chad Hurley, Founder & Chief executive officer Jawed Karim, Founder & Advisor ]| registration = Optional
(required to upload)| launch_date = February 15, 2005| website_type = [video sharing-->YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. YouTube was created in mid February 2005 by three former PayPal employees. "Surprise! There's a third YouTube co-founder", USATODAY, October 11, 2006. The San Bruno, California-based service uses Adobe Flash technology to display a wide variety of video content, including movie clips, television program clips and music videos, as well as amateur content such as videoblogging and short original videos. In October 2006, Google announced that it had reached a deal to acquire the company for United States dollar1.65 billion in Google stock. The deal closed on November 13, 2006. "Google closes $A2b YouTube deal", Reuters, November 14, 2006.

Unregistered users can watch most videos on the site, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos. Some videos are available only to users of age 18 or older (e.g. videos containing potentially offensive content, although pornography is disallowed to be uploaded). Related videos, determined by title and Tag (metadata), appear onscreen to the right of a given video. In YouTube's second year, functions were added to enhance user ability to post video 'responses' and subscribe to content feeds.

History YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen (YouTube) and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal. Prior to PayPal, Hurley studied design at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Chen and Karim studied computer science together at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.University of Illinois Department of Computer Science (2006). "YouTube: Sharing Digital Camera Videos" The domain name "YouTube.com" was activated on February 15, 2005, and the website was developed over the subsequent months. The creators offered the public a preview of the site in May 2005, six months before YouTube made its official debut.Like many technology startups, YouTube was started as an angel investor enterprise from a makeshift office in a garage (house). In November 2005, venture firm Sequoia Capital invested an initial $3.5 million; additionally, Roelof Botha, partner of the firm and former Chief financial officer of PayPal, joined the YouTube board of directors. In April 2006, Sequoia put an additional $8 million into the company, which had experienced huge popular growth within its first few months. Sequoia invests 11.5 million total in YouTube, accessed July 7, 2006

During the summer of 2006, YouTube was one of the fastest growing websites on the World Wide Web, "YouTube Fastest Growing Website" Advertising Age and was ranked the 5th most popular website on Alexa Internet, far outpacing even MySpace's rate of growth.{{cite web] | work = Alexa.com | publisher = Amazon.com | language = English -->According to a July 16 2006 survey, 100 million video clips are viewed daily on YouTube, with an additional 65,000 new videos uploaded every 24 hours. The website averages nearly 20 million visitors per month, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, where around 44% are female, 56% male, and the 12- to 17-year-old age group is dominant. YouTube's pre-eminence in the online video market is substantial. According to the website Hitwise.com, YouTube commands up to 64% of the UK online video market.

On October 9, 2006, it was announced that the company would be purchased by Google for US$1.65 billion in stock. The purchase agreement between Google and YouTube came after YouTube presented three agreements with media companies in an attempt to escape the threat of copyright-infringement lawsuits. YouTube will continue operating independently, with its co-founders and 67 employees working within the company. The deal to acquire YouTube closed on November 13, and was, at the time, Google's second largest acquisition.

Media recognition Within a relatively short time, YouTube has experienced much well-publicized growth, fueled primarily by online word-of-mouth. The website received an early surge of publicity when it hosted the popular Saturday Night Live short Lazy Sunday.http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060329-6481.html YouTube hosts Lazy Sunday, accessed July 7 2006 However, YouTube's official policy prohibits submission of copyrighted material, and NBC Universal, owners of SNL, soon decided to take action.

In February 2006, NBC asked for the removal of some of its copyrighted content from YouTube, including Lazy Sunday and 2006 Winter Olympics clips. NBC Pressures Websites on Video Clips by Andrew Wallenstein, 22 February 2006, Backstage.com The following month, in an attempt to strengthen its policy against copyright infringement, YouTube set a 10-minute maximum limit on video runtime. Although earlier users were grandfathered in, new members cannot upload videos over 10 minutes long. Established content creators can apply to have this restriction lifted. Your 15 Minutes of Fame..ummm...Make that 10 Minutes or Less, YouTube Blog, 26 March 2006 (It should be noted, however, that the actual cutoff time is 10:58). The restriction can easily be circumvented by uploaders, who simply split the original video into smaller segments, each under the '10-minute' maximum.

Though YouTube complied with NBC's demands, the incident made the news, garnering the website even more publicity. As YouTube continued growing in popularity, NBC began to realize the website's possibilities, and announced, in June 2006, a strategic partnership with YouTube. Under the deal, an official NBC channel was set up on YouTube, showcasing promotional clips for the series The Office. YouTube will also promote NBC videos on its site.{{cite web|url = http://www.youtube.com/press_room_entry?entry=c0g5-NsDdJQ |title = Press Releases: NBC And YouTube Announce Strategic Partnership |publisher = YouTube (Press Room) |date = [2006-06-27 |accessdate = 2006-11-17 -->

CBS, which had also asked YouTube to remove several of its clips, followed NBC's example in July 2006. In a statement indicative of how traditional media's perception of YouTube (and similar sites) has changed, Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports noted:

{{cquote|Our inclination now is, the more exposure we get from clips like that, the better it is for CBS News and the CBS television network, so in retrospect we probably should have embraced the exposure, and embraced the attention it was bringing CBS, instead of being parochial and saying ‘let’s pull it down.’{{cite news|first = Brian |last = Montopoli |url = http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2006/07/17/publiceye/entry1809404.shtml |title = CBS To YouTube: Who Loves You, Baby? |work = |publisher = CBSNews.com |date = 2006-07-17 |accessdate = 2006-07-28 |language = English -->-->

In August 2006, YouTube announced its goal, within 18 months, to offer every music video ever made, while remaining free of charge. Warner Music Group and EMI have confirmed that they are among the companies in talks to implement the plan.{{cite news|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4798133.stm |title = YouTube aims to show music videos |publisher = [BBC News |date = [2006-08-16 -->In September 2006, Warner Music and YouTube signed a deal, in which the website will be allowed to host every Warner music video while sharing a portion of the advertisement income. Moreover, user-created videos on YouTube will be allowed to use Warner songs in their soundtracks.{{cite news|url = http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060918-7764.html |title = Warner Music coming to YouTube |publisher = [arstechnica.com |date = [2006-09-18 -->

On October 9, 2006, CBS, Universal Music Group, and Sony BMG Music Entertainment announced an agreement to provide content to YouTube.{{cite news|url = http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-10-09-youtube-deals_x.htm |title = YouTube strikes content deals |work = |publisher = USATODAY.com |date = [2006-10-09 |accessdate = 2006-10-09 |language = English -->

On January 29, 2007, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley announced that the online video service will pay its activeuser-contributors (who should actually be the true copyright owners) a portion of the website's advertising revenue. However, at the World Economic Forum, Hurley did not mention an exact amount of money that YouTube will pay the contributors.http://www.yepeoo.com/youtube-p.html

Press coverage Time (magazine) featured a YouTube screen with a foil mirror as its annual 'Person of the Year', citing user-created media such as YouTube's, and featuring the site's originators along with several content creators. The Wall Street Journal and New York Times have also reviewed posted content on YouTube, and its effects upon corporate communications and recruitment in 2006. PC World (magazine) Magazine named YouTube the 9th of the Top 10 Best Products of 2006. In 2007, both Sports Illustrated and Dime Magazine featured stellar reviews of a basketball highlight video entitled, The Ultimate Pistol Pete Maravich MIX. Because of its acquisition by Google, it is sometimes referred to as "GooTube."

Revenue model Before being purchased by Google, YouTube declared that its business model was advertisement-based, making 15 million dollars per month. Some industry commentators have speculated that YouTube's running costs — specifically the bandwidth required — may be as high as 5 to 6 million USD per month,http://willy.boerland.com/myblog/youtube_bandwidth_usage_25_petabytes_per_month]. Forbes. April 27, 2006. thereby fueling criticisms that the company, like many Internet startups, did not have a viably implemented business model. Advertisements were launched on the site beginning in March 2006. In April, YouTube started using Google AdSense. YouTube subsequently stopped using AdSense but has resumed in local regions.

Internationalization On June 19, 2007, Eric E. Schmidt was in Paris to launch the new localization system. The entire interface of the website is now available with localized versions in numerous countries:

{]|-| | http://fr.youtube.com/| French language|-| | http://hk.youtube.com/| Chinese language|-| | http://ie.youtube.com/| English language|-| | http://it.youtube.com/| Italian language|-| | http://ja.youtube.com/| Japanese language|-| | http://mx.youtube.com/| Spanish language|-| | http://nl.youtube.com/| Dutch language|-| | http://pl.youtube.com/| Polish language|-| | http://es.youtube.com/| Spanish language|-| | http://tw.youtube.com/| Chinese language|-| | http://uk.youtube.com/| English language|-| | http://youtube.com| English language|}Google aims to compete with local videosharing websites like DailyMotion in France. It also made an agreement with local television stations like Métropole 6 and France Télévisions to legally broadcast video content.

Google also plans to localize in Germany and Turkey in the future. On October 17, 2007 it was announced that a Hong Kong version had been launched. YouTube's Steve Chen said its next target will be Taiwan. 881903.com Commercial Radio CableTV

Youtube is blocked from Mainland China from the 18th October due to the censorship of the Taiwanese flag. URLs to Youtube will be redirected to China's own search engine, Baidu. The unblock date of the site is still unknown. Reference

Recent events Political campaigning Political candidates for the 2008 U.S. Presidential election have been using YouTube as an outlet for advertising their candidacies. Voters can view candidate statements and make videos supporting (or opposing) presidential candidates (e.g., videos for Ron Paul, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden).{{cite news | author = Tamara Lytle | title = Web spurs revolution in race for president | publisher = [Orlando Sentinel | date = 2007-04-15 | url = http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-webpolitics1507apr15,0,3489492.story?coll=orl-news-headlines | accessdate = 2007-04-28 --> {{cite news | author = Jose Antonio Vargas | title = 'Ron Paul, who?' no longer applies GOP hopeful big hit in YouTube videos | publisher = [San Francisco Chronicle | date = 2007-06-17 | url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/06/17/MNGD0QGTLD1.DTL | accessdate = 2007-06-23 --> Third Party presidential candidates have also made extensive use of YouTube. [Libertarian_Party_%28United_States%29 [Steve Kubby's campaign debuted a short animated film, featuring the faces and voices of campaign contributors who financed its production, on YouTube on September 29th, 2007.{{cite news | author = Kubby for President | title = Steve Kubby for President 2008 | publisher = [YouTube | date = 2007-09-29 | url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-PWwN0tvW8 | accessdate = 2007-09-29 --> The U.S. media has often commented that YouTube played a significant role in the 2006 defeat of Republican Senator [George Allen (U.S. politician) due to a video clip of him making allegedly racist remarks that was continuously replayed by YouTube viewers during the campaign.{{cite news | author = Andrew Kantor | title = We would be well served to delete others' missteps in Web's archive | publisher = [USA Today | date = 2006-11-16 | url = http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2006-11-16-missteps-online_x.htm | accessdate = 2007-04-28 --> {{cite news | author = Carrie Budoff | title = Senators Fear Having A "Macaca" Moment: Smallest Slip-Ups Can Tank A Campaign, Thanks To YouTube | publisher = [CBS News | date = 2007-02-02 | url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/02/politics/main2425882.shtml | accessdate = 2007-04-28 --> {{cite news | author = Andrew Sullivan | title = Video power: the potent new political force | publisher = [The Sunday Times | date = 2007-02-04 | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/andrew_sullivan/article1321781.ece | accessdate = 2007-04-28 --> "Without a hostile videocam and the blogosphere, Allen would have cruised on to victory. But the damning video found its way to YouTube, and then it was carried by the TV networks, and before long Allen’s attempt at re-election hit a brick wall." {{cite news | author = Frank Rich | title = 2006: The Year of the 'Macaca' | publisher = [The New York Times | date = 2006-11-12--> {{cite video | people = Howard Kurtz, Glenn Reynolds, Ryan Lizza, Andrea Koppel | title = http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0608/20/rs.06.html Reliable Sources | medium = TV-Series | publisher = [CNN [Reliable Sources | date = 2006-08-20 --> "Allen used a word that some European countries consider a racial slur against an Indian-American volunteer for his Democratic opponent Jim Webb. And the web cam posted it on the popular web site YouTube.com, where it's been seen more than 100,000 times." Political commentators such as [James Kotecki have also joined the YouTube world of politics. Many commentators make videos on YouTube critiquing a presidential candidate's YouTube videos, or simply using YouTube as a medium to get their opinions heard. Recently, French and Italian politicians, such as [Antonio Di Pietro, have also been using the site as part of their campaigns. YouTube has also been used by Australian Prime Minister John Howard in the lead up to the 2007 federal election. CNN-YouTube Presidential Debates In the run up to the 2008 Presidential elections, CNN aired a debate in which candidates fielded questions selected from a pool submitted by users of YouTube. Because of the use of technology to aggregate questions from a wide range of constituents, the forum has been referred to as "most democratic Presidential Debate ever"{{cite web | last =O'Brien | first =Luke | title =YouTube and CNN Discuss "Most Democratic" Presidential Debate Ever | publisher =[Wired Magazine | date =[2007-06-14 | url =http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/06/youtube_and_cnn.html | accessdate = 2007-08-01-->.

Copyright infringement and controversial material Copyright YouTube policy does not give permission for anyone to upload content not permitted by United States copyright law, and the company frequently removes uploaded infringing content. Nonetheless, a large amount of potentially infringing content continues to be uploaded (e.g., television shows/clips, film clips, commercials, music videos, music concerts, M.U.G.E.N#Legality, ROM hacking, or games republished onto another system such as PlayStation Portable). Generally speaking, unless a copyright holder reports them, YouTube only discovers these videos via indications within the YouTube community through self-policing. YouTube generally identifies video content through search terms that uploaders associate with clips. Some deceptive users create alternative search terms when uploading specific file types (similar to the deliberate misspelling of band names on MP3 filesharing networks). For a brief time, members could also report on one another. The flagging feature, intended as a means of reporting questionable content, has been subject to considerable abuse; for a time, some users were flagging other users' original content for copyright violations out of spite. YouTube proceeded to remove copyright infringement from the list of flaggable offenses.

Starting October 2007, YouTube is allowing media companies to block their copyrighted video content that was loaded onto YouTube without seeking any prior permission.{{cite news| url = http://www.andhranews.net/Intl/2007/October/16/YouTube-allows-media-19094.asp| title = YouTube allows media companies to block copyrighted content| accessdate=2007-10-16-->

Cinema of the United States remains divided on YouTube, as "'the marketing guys love YouTube and the legal guys hate it.'"{{cite news|first = Ben |last = Jones |coauthors = Leamonth, Michael |url = http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117960880.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 |title = Showbiz's site fright/Web seen as both a threat and a gold mine |publisher = [Variety (magazine) |date = [2007-03-10 |accessdate = 2007-03-12 |language = English --> Further,

Content owners are not just targeting YouTube for copyright infringements, but are also targeting third party websites that link to infringing content on YouTube and other video-sharing sites. For example QuickSilverScreen vs. Fox{{cite news| first = IPTV | last = Guy | title = TV Show Directory QuickSilverScreen.com Threatened by Fox | url = http://www.webtvwire.com/tv-show-directory-quicksilverscreencom-threatened-by-fox/ | work = Web TV Wire | date = [2006-07-12 | accessdate = 2006-10-12 --> Daily Episodes vs. Fox{{cite news| first = Lord | last = Thor | title = DailyEpisodes closed down by Fox, for LINKING to TV show episodes! | url = http://digg.com/tech_news/DailyEpisodes_closed_down_by_Fox_for_LINKING_to_TV_show_episodes | work = Digg.com | date = [2006-10-02 | accessdate = 2006-12-10 --> and Columbia vs. Slashfilm.{{cite news|first = Peter |last = Sciretta |url = http://www.slashfilm.com/article.php/20060726145607684 |title = Columnia Pictures tells /Film to remove website link |publisher = SlashFilm |date = [2006-07-26 |accessdate = 2006-10-12 --> The liability of linking remains a grey area with cases for and against. The law in the U.S. currently leans towards website owners being liable for infringing links{{cite news|url = http://www.webtvwire.com/linking-to-infringing-content-is-probably-illegal-in-the-us/ |title = Linking to infringing TV Shows is probably illegal in the US |publisher = WebTVWire |date = [2006-09-26 |accessdate = 2006-10-12 --> although they are often protected by the DMCA providing they take down infringing content when issued with a takedown notice. However, a recent court ruling in the U.S. found Google not liable for linking to infringing content (Perfect 10 v. Google, Inc.).

Examples of infringement complaints On October 5, 2006, the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) finalized their copyright complaints regarding Japanese media on YouTube. Thousands of media from popular Japanese artists (such as Tokyo Jihen and other music including Jpop) were removed.

When CBS and Universal Music Group signed agreements to provide content on YouTube, they announced a new technology to help them find and remove copyrighted material.

TV journalist Robert Tur filed the first lawsuit against the company in the summer of 2006, alleging copyright infringement for hosting a number of famous news clips without permission. The case has yet to be resolved.{{cite news|first = K.C. |last = Jones |url = http://www.informationweek.com/industries/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=190600029 |title = Journalist Sues YouTube For Copyright Infringement |work = |publisher = InformationWeek.com |date = [2006-07-18 |accessdate = 2006-07-28 |language = English -->{{cite news|first = James |last = Montgomery |url = http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1536695/20060719/index.jhtml?headlines=true |title = YouTube Slapped With First Copyright Lawsuit For Video Posted Without Permission |work = |publisher = MTV.com |date = [2006-07-19 |accessdate = 2006-07-28 |language = English -->

On November 9, 2006, Artie Lange said that his lawyers were in talks with YouTube, after Lange learned that his entire DVD, It's the Whiskey Talking, was available for free on the website. He added that he will either demand money from them, or will sue.

Viacom and the BBC both demanded YouTube to take down more than 200,000 videos.{{cite news|first = Greg |last = Sandoval |author = Sandoval, Greg |title = Does YouTube have a control problem? |url = http://news.com.com/Does+YouTube+have+a+control+problem/2100-1030_3-6156025.html |work = [cnet |date = [2007-02-02 |accessdate = 2007-02-04 -->

Viacom announced it was suing YouTube, and its owner Google, for more than $1 billion in the United States District Court for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Viacom claims that YouTube posted over 160,000 of their videos on the website without their permission.{{cite news|first = |last = |author = Reuters |title = Viacom in $1 bln copyright suit vs Google, YouTube |url = http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyid=2007-03-13T134200Z_01_WEN5351_RTRUKOC_0_US-VIACOM-YOUTUBE.xml&src=rss&rpc=22 |work = [Reuters |date = [2007-03-13 |accessdate = 2007-03-13 -->{{cite news|first = |last = |author = BBC News |title = Viacom will sue YouTube for $1bn |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6446193.stm |work = [BBC |date = [2007-03-13 |accessdate = 2007-03-13 -->

In 2007 a 15 year old Australian boy managed to get YouTube to delete over 200 YouTube videos belonging to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation using a fake DMCA take down notice. When the fake DMCA notice arrived, the ABC already had in place a long standing deal with YouTube to freely share its videos. In his hand written letter the boy claimed that he was acting on behalf of the "Australian Broddcasting Corperation sic", giving his own hotmail address as his business contact and demanded that hundreds of videos from ABC’s The Chaser's War on Everything television program be deleted from YouTube's servers. Despite the boy not having any affiliation with the ABC and the spelling errors on his hand written form YouTube did delete all of the videos at the boy’s request and replaced each with a message stating "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Australian Broadcasting Corporation".{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/boy-dupes-youtube-to-delete-videos/2007/04/13/1175971361981.html|title=Boy dupes YouTube to delete videos|author=Jensen, Erik|publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=2007-04-14-->

Use of acoustic fingerprints On October 12 2006, YouTube announced that because of recent agreements with high-profile content creators, they now required to use antipiracy software, which uses an acoustic fingerprint technology that can detect a low-quality copy of licensed video. YouTube would have to substitute an approved version of any clip or remove the material immediately. Industry analysts speculated that removal of content with such a system might reduce overall user satisfaction.{{cite news|first = Alex |last = Veiga |title = Anti-piracy system could hurt YouTube |url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15240348/ |work = [Associated Press |date = [2006-10-12 |accessdate = 2006-10-13 -->{{cite news|first = Alex |last = Veiga |title = Anti-piracy system could hurt YouTube |url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15240348/ |work = [Associated Press |date = [2006-10-12 |accessdate = 2006-10-13 -->

On April 16, 2007, Google's CEO Eric E. Schmidt presented a keynote speech at the NAB Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the Q&A session, Schmidt announced that YouTube was close to enacting a content filtering system to remove infringing content from the service. The new system, called "Claim Your Content", will automatically identify copyrighted material for removal.{{cite news|first = Rafat |last = Ali |title = NAB: GoogleTube Close To Its “Claim Your Content” Filtering System |url = http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-nab-googletube-close-to-its-claim-your-content-filtering-system/ |work = [paidcontent.org |date = [2007-04-16 |accessdate = 2007-04-17-->

Google spokesperson Ricardo Reyes stated on June 13, 2007 that the company was seeking "a way to make video identification technology a reality" when they began to test the system in the next few days.http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199903572http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/12/technology/youtube_id.reut/index.htm

Violence On June 1, 2006, the evening ITV News bulletin reported that YouTube and similar sites were being used by teenagers who were happy slapping on mobile phones. In July 2007, a similar incident happened at a school in Hayling Island, U.K. Police remove film of girls fighting from You Tube Daily Telegraph Saturday 21 July 2007 (Number 47316)

Animal abuse YouTube has been criticized for hosting hundreds of videos of real-life animal cruelty made specifically to be shown on the site. In spite of these videos being flagged as inappropriate by many users, YouTube has generally failed to take the same policing actions to remove them that they have with videos containing copyright infringement or sexual content. Times online, "Animal cruelty films on YouTube" August 19, 2007, retrieved August 25, 2007. Practical Fishkeeping, "Uproar at fish cruelty on YouTube" May 17, 2007, retrieved August 25, 2007.

White House National Drug Control involvement In September 2006, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) began running anti-drug messages through YouTube. White House Anti-Drug Office Begins Posting Videos on YouTube. Press Release, Office of National Drug Control Policy, September 19 2006 In response, many YouTube users began uploading rebuttals and low rating the public service announcements. Consequently, since mid-September, the ONDCP has removed the ability to evaluate any of their messages.

New York Times reports anti-U.S. attack videos On October 5, 2006, The New York Times reported on the proliferation of what they considered to be anti-U.S. Iraqi insurgent attack videos on YouTube.{{cite news|url = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/technology/06tube.html |title = Anti-U.S. Attack Videos Spread on Web |publisher = New York Times |date = October 5, [ -->

Banning YouTube has been blocked in several countries since its inception. These countries include: Brazil, Morocco, and Thailand. Certain video pages have been banned as of October 1, 2007 in Turkey and United Arab Emirates.

Schools are also starting to ban YouTube because students post videos of bullying and also because of the increased bandwidth usage.{{cite news]|author=AustralianIT|accessdate2007-10-11-->

Spamming With recent improvements to e-mail spam filtering technology and their wider use, spammers have begun using YouTube as way to advertise: popular videos frequently have comments with links to irrelevant external sites, usually with some enticing statements (such as "Great video, go to for the full version"). They may also send messages to a user's inbox (essentially in the form of a plain-text spam email). The users who send the spam comments generally use automatically generated user names, making it difficult to block them.

Terms of service According YouTube's terms of service, YouTube Terms of Use, accessed 5 May 2007 users may upload videos only with permission of the copyright holder and of the depicted persons. Pornography, defamation, harassment, commercial advertisements and material that encourages criminal conduct is prohibited. The uploader grants YouTube a license to distribute and modify the uploaded material for any purpose; this license terminates when the uploader deletes the material from the site. Users may view videos on the site as long as they agree to the terms of service; downloading or copying of the videos is not permitted.

Domain name problem YouTube's immense success has unintentionally affected the business of an American company, Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment Corp., whose website, http://www.utube.com, has been frequently overloaded and shut down by extremely high numbers of visitors unsure about the spelling of YouTube's domain name. Christian Zappone. "Help! YouTube is killing my business!: An Ohio company's sales get 'killed' as YouTube surfers cripple utube.com, a pipe equipment seller's web site." CNNMoney.com, October 12 2006; retrieved November 17, 2006. At the beginning of November 2006, Universal Tube lawsuit in United States district court against YouTube,Rhys Blakely. "Utube sues YouTube" Times Online, November 02, 2006; retrieved November 17, 2006. requesting that the youtube.com domain be transferred to them. "Utube.com v. YouTube.com: Ohio pipe firm says confused web surfers are hurting its business" The Smoking Gun, November 2, 2006; retrieved November 17, 2006. This was widely viewed as frivolous litigation.

Technical notes Video format YouTube's video playback technology is based on Macromedia's Adobe Flash Player 7 and uses the Sorenson Spark H.263 video codec. This technology allows the site to display videos with quality comparable to more established video playback technologies (such as Windows Media Player, QuickTime and RealPlayer) that generally require the user to download and install a web browser plugin in order to view video. Flash also requires a plug-in, but the Flash 7 plug-in is generally considered to be present on approximately 90% of online computers. Adobe Flash Player Version Penetration The video can also be played back with gnash or VLC media player. It has pixel dimensions of 320 by 240 and runs at 25 frames per second. The maximum data rate is 300kbit/s.

YouTube converts videos into Flash Video (Adobe Flash Video) format after uploading.http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000755.html The extension is then stripped from the file (Extension can be found again with TrID). The different files are stored in obscurely named subdomains, to make ripping the videos difficult. YouTube also converts content to other formats so that it can be viewed outside of the website. See #accessibility.

YouTube officially accepts uploaded videos in Windows Media Video, Audio Video Interleave, QuickTime, Moving Picture Experts Group and MPEG-4 Part 14, formats In which formats YouTube officially accepts uploaded videos

Video can be seen in windowed mode or full screen mode; it is possible to switch the mode during the viewing of any video without reloading it thanks to the full-screen function of Adobe Flash Player 9.

Audio format YouTube files contain an MP3 audio stream. By default, it is mono-encoding with a 65kbit/s rate at 22050 Hz. However, it is possible to get a stereo audio track if the movie file is manually converted to FLV format using a program such as ffmpegX for Macintosh or the commercial Riva FLV Encoder for Windows.

Content accessibility On YouTube As noted above, YouTube accepts common file formats and converts them to the H.263 variant of FLV, and makes them available for online viewing. Beginning in June 2007, newly uploaded videos will also be encoded using the H.264 video standard to enable streaming of YouTube videos on the Apple TV and the iPhone.

On Apple TV Apple Inc. announced on 20 June 2007 that YouTube is accessible on the Apple TV after installation of a free software update. Functionality includes browsing by category, searching videos, and the ability for members to log onto their YouTube accounts directly on Apple TV. Access to thousands of the most current and popular YouTube videos will be available, with plans to add thousands more videos each week. The entire catalog is targeted to be available in fall 2007. According to Apple VP David Moody, the reason for the delay is the need for all current YouTube content to be transcoded to Apple's preferred video standard, H.264. All content uploaded in and after June, however, will be automatically encoded into H.264, rendering additional transcoding unnecessary for these newer files.

On mobile YouTube launched its mobile site, YouTube Mobile on 15 June 2007. It is based on xHTML and uses 3GP videos with H263/AMR codec and RTSP streaming.

On iPhone Apple announced Wednesday, 20 June 2007 that YouTube would be available on iPhone at launch. Streaming is over WiFi or Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution.

Videos on YouTube for the iPhone are encoded in Apple's preferred H.264 format. All videos are viewed in the horizontal orientation of the phone. As YouTube videos have 4:3 aspect ratio and the iPhone is 3:2, videos must be viewed with black bars on the side (pillarboxed) or may be zoomed to trim some of the top and bottom to fill the screen.

Not all videos are available on iPhone yet because not every video has been reencoded to H.264. There are two versions of each video on YouTube, one is higher bandwidth for WiFi use, and one is lower resolution for EDGE use.

Unlike the Apple TV version, users cannot log in to their own YouTube accounts, but can create a separate favorites list just for the iPhone.

Elsewhere outside YouTube Each video is accompanied by the full HTML Markup language for linking to it and/or embedding it within another page, unless the submitter of a video chooses to disable the embedding feature. A small addition to the embeddable markup will allow the video to play automatically when the webpage loads. These simple cut-and-paste options are especially popular with users of social-networking sites. Poor experiences, however, have been cited by users of such sites,http://news.livejournal.com/92728.html where autoplaying embedded YouTube videos has been reported to slow down page loading time or even to crash internet browsers.

The YouTube Player is the name of another embeddable applet (with a different interface), designed for browsing YouTube videos on an iGoogle homepage.

Downloading videos YouTube itself does not make it easy to download and save videos for offline viewing or editing, but several third-party web sites, applications, browser extensions (such as Mozilla Firefox extensions) exist for that purpose. Alternatively, most .flv files can be copied from the 'Temporary Internet Files' folder in Windows, or the /tmp directory in GNU systems, to a permanent folder. The .flv files can then be viewed and edited directly or converted to other formats using various applications.

YouTube Remixer On June 18, 2007, YouTube launched its online video editing tool, YouTube Remixer. The tool allows users to edit their YouTube videos online, although the editing tools are very limited.

Channel Type Members of YouTube.com are offered to be a part of groups called "Channel Types" that make their channel more distinctive. The types are:

Social impact Internet celebrities and breaking boundaries YouTube's popularity has led to the creation of many YouTube Internet celebrities, popular individuals who have attracted much publicity in their home countries (and sometimes world renown) due to their videos. The most subscribed YouTube member, as of October 18, 2007, is Smosh.{{cite web|url = http://www.youtube.com/members?s=ms&t=a&g=0 |title = Most Subscribed (All Time) |publisher = YouTube |date = 2007-06-02 --> For some users, Internet fame has led to unexpected results and, in some cases, crossovers into traditional media or entertainment avenues. Former receptionist Brooke Brodack (Brookers) from Connecticut has been signed by NBC's Carson Daly for an 18-month development contract in June 2006; Brodack was among the first individuals to transition into mainstream media through YouTube. Another discovery was the uncovered fictitious blog of lonelygirl15, now known to be the creation of New Zealand actress Jessica Rose and some film directors. In 2007, a Dutch vocalist and songwriter named Esmée Denters (esmeedenters) was signed to a recording contract by Billy Mann based on her YouTube performances.{{cite news|url = http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN2518918320070226 |title = YouTube stars don't always welcome record deals |publisher = [Reuters |date = 2007-02-25 -->{{cite news|url = http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKN0831939520070308 |title = Dutch YouTube star scores U.S. music deal |publisher = [Reuters |date = 2007-03-08 --> On January 31, 2007, Fox announced that Lisa Donovan (LisaNova) would appear as a cast member during the 12th season of its sketch comedy show MADtv. Terra Naomi (terranaomi) has been signed with Island Records, a division of the Universal Music Group, one of the Big Four record labels. Brandon Hardesty (ArtieTSMITW), known for a popular reenactment series among his work, is currently in a GEICO television commercial{{cite web|url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cKP84cb17k |title = Geico - 15 minutes online |publisher = YouTube |date = May 8 [ --> running nationally in the U.S. and it consists mostly of a segment taken from his Strange Faces and Noises I Can Make III video.{{cite web|url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPx266rGw3E |title = Strange Faces and Noises I Can Make III |publisher = YouTube |date = January 1 [ --> Ysabella Brave (ysabellabrave and ysabellabravetalk) announced in two videos on June 3 2007, in connection with a Los Angeles Times feature article{{cite web|url = http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/magazine/la-tm-neil22jun03,1,6835647.story?ctrack=1&cset=true |title = Wish on a Star |publisher = Los Angeles Times |date = June 3 [ --> about her on the same day, that she has been signed by Cordless Recordings, a division of the Warner Music Group, also one of the four major records labels. TheReceptionist announced in a video on July 9 2007 that he will be providing content for Comedy Central's website.{{cite web|url = http://youtube.com/watch?v=6-6lDholT0s |title = Dead Tone |publisher = YouTube |date = July 9 [ --> Daniel Geduld (everyonesvoice) now works in the voice-over business and he credits his discovery to his popular Skeletor remixes, which change an originally serious animation series into comedy.{{cite web|url = http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070720/ap_on_hi_te/getting_discovered_online_2;_ylt=AiPdhj1E4qqtpLm7P9F4xJ4E1vAI |title = Web video sites mined by talent scouts |publisher = Associated Press |date = July 20 [ -->

Band and music promotion YouTube has also become a means of promoting bands and their music. One such example is OK Go which got a huge radio hit and an MTV Video Music Awards performance out of the treadmill video for Here It Goes Again.In the same light, a video broadcasting the Free Hugs Campaign with accompanying music by the Sick Puppies led to instant fame for both the band and the campaign, with more campaigns taking place in different parts of the world. The main character of the video, Juan Mann has also achieved fame, being interviewed on Australian news programs, even appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Sharing revenue with popular users

In May 2007, YouTube invited some of its most viewed users to become "YouTube Partners." This exclusive status, previously only offered to commercial content providers, allows users to earn revenue from advertisements placed next to videos. YouTube Elevates Most Popular Users to Partners, The YouTube Blog May 3, 2007 Participants include Ben Going (boh3m3), Caitlin Hill (TheHill88), Paul Robinett (renetto), Lisa Donovan (LisaNova), Jessica Rose (lonelygirl15), Kevin Nalty (Nalts) Tony Huynh (thewinekone), Brandon Hardesty (ArtieTSMITW), and Yousef Abu-Taleb (Danielbeast), among the 100 partners. YouTube Partners, as of June 23, 2007

YouTube gatherings YouTubers periodically hold public gatherings to celebrate the video sharing community.Coyle, Jake "YouTube Vloggers Congregate Offline" Associated Press, August 22, 2007 One of the earliest of such gatherings, the recurrent and international As One, was first held in January 2007 in Hollywood, California. The second As One, held on February 17, 2007 at Pier 39 in San Francisco, California, managed to attract many of YouTube's highest viewed individuals.Sandoval, Greg "Top YouTube videographers descend on San Francisco" cnet.com, February 17, 2007 Notable attendees included: Caitlin Hill; Ben Going; and Yousef Abu-Taleb, the actor who plays DanielBeast in the YouTube serial lonelygirl15. A third gathering took place on July 7, 2007, at Washington Square Park in New York City. A singing invitation to the event, posted on YouTube by Christine Gambito, YouTube's Happyslip, gained over 2.6 million views.Wilson, Craig "Saturday's date — 07/07/07 — gives birth to fortune frenzy" USA Today, July 6, 2007 Notable attendees included: Brooke Brodack; Caitlin Hill; Charles Trippy; wpgpeanut; andKevin Nalty. Yet another took place in Washington D.C. on September 8, 2007.

Video rankings YouTube awards videos with honors, the most popular of which is "most viewed" which are divided into four categories: today, this week, this month and all time. Honors include: YouTube Video Awards Starting in 2006, YouTube has presented the annual YouTube Video Awards. Categories include "'most adorable' video ever" and "most creative." YouTube nominates the contenders, and users decide the winners. Only original, user created videos are nominated. Nominees for the 2006 awards included Peter Oakley, LonelyGirl15, Tony Huynh, Renetto and Chad Vader.

2006 Awards:http://www.youtube.com/ytawards
 

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