Viacom the latest company to misunderstand the Internet

You’ve probably seen that Viacom has ordered YouTube to take down more than 100,00 video clips from YouTube and Google Video.  That’s 100,000 Youtube videos submitted by fans of the shows, along with a LOT of comments and fan feedback.

From James McQuivy of Forrester Research:

"If this issue goes to the Supreme Court, it could take years, and eyeballs could disappear during that time. No one wants that, not even Viacom. So it’s in their best interests to work it out," said McQuivey.

He’s right about one thing, they will lose a lot of eyeballs.  However, I know at least one group of people that DOES want this, and that’s any independent content producer looking for an audience.  There’s a huge content-starved audience on these video sites now looking for replacement content, I just wonder how many LonelyGirl15′s there are out there to fill the void.

You’d think they would just offer streaming content on their own sites if it’s a matter of control or revenue.  Another nail in the old media coffin, in my opinion.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • HackerNews
  • Reddit