http://www.YouTube.com - Extremely popular video sharing site.

YouTube.com is a sharing website which allows its members to upload, share and view video clips with other members. The facility is offered free and there are no registration charges as such. The members can rate a video, and there is an indicator regarding the number of times the video has been viewed. You may upload music, TV or clips. There are professional as well as clips which make for interesting viewing.

History

It was founded in February of 2005 by three employees of . YouTube is based in San Bruno, California, and it uses Flash technology. It was named “the invention of the year” by magazine in the year 2008. It has 67 employees at present. YouTube was acquired by in October of 2006 for US $1.65 billion. It is the biggest purchase Google has made to date.

Features

YouTube allows any user to upload clips up to 1 GB in size. You may submit your files in common format like mpeg or avi. These files get automatically converted to the H263 variant (with .flv extension) of Flash Video. This enables the clips to be viewed online due to its excellent compatibility.

Each video clip on you tube has an markup accompanying it. It links it to another page/link and when this particular page is visited by a user the video is auto played. It is a very popular option.

According to the rules of the company you can upload your content to the site only if you are permitted to do so by United States Copyright Law. In reality, people constantly upload content copyrighted by others, and as soon as the company notices it, it removes it. The ten-minute time limit for YouTube clips was instituted to help prevent the wholesale pirating of television shows.

YouTube has created many celebrities. Many of these debutantes have gained recognition and international fame. The most remarkable is the case of a 79 year old English pensioner, who within a week of hosting his video gained widespread recognition. YouTube has helped many bands in gaining popularity: is one example. Similarly, the ‘Free hugs campaign’ which had music composed by earned international fame for the campaign as well as the band. The main character, became so famous that she was even invited to .

Viacom Lawsuit

As of January 2007, YouTube was being sued by for alleged copyright infringement over user's posting of clips from various Viacom networks. This is believed to be a bargaining tool by Viacom to try and increase what Google (YouTube's owner) will pay for use of clips. YouTube claims that it is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ( ) which provides for protection of a website owner for material posted by others provided the material is removed expeditiously.

YouTube in the News

Acquisition by

On 9 Oct. 2006, YouTube.com was purchased by for $1.65 billion. Read the story here:

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Or, take a look at this video from the founders of YouTube talking about the sale:

Contact

Additional Information

The way forward for a new generation of visual web users.

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Languages

• English
• Australia
• Brazil
• France
• Germany
• Hong Kong
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Poland
• Spain
• Russian

Related Domains

External Links

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• YouTube.com