YouTube is an American site dedicated to sharing videos. It offers a variety of movie clips, TV shows, and music videos, as well as amateur content such as video blogs and YouTube Gaming. The people who create content for this platform are generally known as YouTubers.
It was created by three former employees of PayPal in February 2005 and, in October 2006, was acquired by Google Inc. in exchange for $1650 million and now operates as one of its subsidiaries. It is the most used website of its kind on the Internet.
YouTube uses an HTML5-based online player, which it incorporated shortly after the introduction of W3C and is supported by the most popular web browsers. Previously, its player worked with Adobe Flash, but this tool was discontinued in 2016. Links to YouTube videos can also be embedded in blogs and personal websites using APIs or the embedding of certain HTML codes.
On August 29, 2017, YouTube unveiled some changes in the design of its web version and introduced a new logo, which for the first time separates the name from the icon.
As of August 2018, the website is ranked as the second most popular site in the world, according to Alexa Internet, just behind Google. As of May 2019, more than 500 hours of video content are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Based on reported quarterly advertising revenue, YouTube is estimated to have annual revenue of US $15 billion.
The platform has faced criticism over some aspects of its operations, including managing copyrighted content contained in uploaded videos, its recommendation algorithms that perpetuate videos that promote conspiracy theories and lies, hosting videos ostensibly aimed at children but containing sexual abuse or suggestions, videos of minors attracting pedophile activity in its comment and policy sections fluctuating on the types of content that can be monetized with advertising.
YouTube History
YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim in February 2005 in San Bruno, California. They all met when they worked at PayPal, Hurley and Karim as engineers and Chen as designers.
According to Hurley and Chen, the idea for YouTube came from the difficulties they faced while trying to share videos taken at a party in San Francisco. This story was considered a very simplified version, and Chen acknowledged that this idea may have been promoted by the need to present a simple story to the market. Karim said the party never took place and the idea of sharing videos on the internet belonged to him. His peers said that the party did go well and that Karim’s original idea was to create a dating site, where people could rate themselves based on their videos. Karim admits to having been influenced by a dating site called HotorNot.com, where users could upload photos of themselves, which were then rated by other users.
The domain was activated on February 14, 2005, and on April 23, the first video, Me at the Zoo, was released. In the spring, YouTube went live. However, the creators quickly realized that users were downloading all kinds of videos, leaving behind the original idea. Traffic skyrocketed when people started posting YouTube links on their MySpace pages. The site’s rapid growth attracted Time Warner and Sequoia Capital, who invested in it. After the Nike company placed a spot featuring Ronaldinho in October 2005, big companies began to be drawn to YouTube. In 2005 alone, Sequoia had to invest US$8.5 million in the site.
As of December 2005, YouTube pages were visited about 50 million times a day. However, after the lazy Sunday music video, originally aired on Saturday Night Live, was uploaded to YouTube, views climbed back to 250 million daily views. By May 2006, according to Alexa.com, YouTube had reached 2 billion views per day, and by mid-August, it had reached the 7 billion mark several times; in addition, it had become the tenth most visited site in the United States. At the time, the New York Post estimated that YouTube should be worth between $600 billion and $1 billion. MySpace.com and Google have released their own versions of YouTube, without success.
As of October 2006, YouTube’s offices remained in San Mateo County, located on the second floor of a building, and had approximately 60 employees. An executive of Universal Music Group had recently announced that “YouTube owed them tens of millions of dollars” for copyright infringement. Mark Cuban, the co-founder of Broadcast.com, an Internet radio service acquired by Yahoo in 1999, had said a month earlier that “only a fool would buy YouTube because of the potential legal problems he would face.” However, the site’s owners had already hired Warner Music to improve the service so they could detect more quickly when a video they owned was uploaded to the site. However, earlier this month, a report was published in the Wall Street Journal that Google was going to buy YouTube for $1600 million. Such information was initially denied by YouTube and Google, which called it rumors.
In the same month, Google bought YouTube for $1650 million in stock. At the time of purchase, 100 million videos on YouTube were viewed and 65,000 new videos were added daily. In addition, some 72 million people visited it per month. Hurley and Chen retained their positions, as did the 67 employees who worked at the company at the time. In the previous days, YouTube had signed two deals with Universal Music Group and CBS, and Google had signed deals with Sony BMG and Warner Music for music video distribution.
In June 2008, 38% of videos viewed on the Internet came from YouTube; the nearest competitor accounted for only 4%. Although Google did not disclose the figures, it was estimated that the site generated US$200 million that year. During that month, an ad on YouTube’s homepage cost $175,000 per day, and the customer had to commit to spending an additional $50,000 on ads on Google or other YouTube pages. However, since the content of the vast majority of videos on YouTube did not appeal to advertisers, the prices of the ads collapsed. YouTube pressured film and television studios to produce quality audiovisual content and offered them leading channels, where they could present commercials for film premieres and television short films. It also placed ads before a video started, but then found that 70% of users left the site before it ended.
YouTube’s relationship with television and film production companies has been mixed. Viacom is continuing the $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube, initiated in March 2007, for alleged massive copyright infringement. In addition, at the end of March 2009, Disney signed an agreement with YouTube authorizing the transmission of short videos from ABC and ESPN. Disney will be able to run ads on YouTube through this agreement. In April 2009, Google announced that YouTube had signed partnerships with some Hollywood studios so that the site could stream tv shows and full movies. After, in January 2010, YouTube Rentals, an online video club service offering full movies that can be viewed instantly for a fee, was launched.
In recent years, Google has still failed to effectively turn high YouTube traffic into profits; the company acknowledged this, but declined to provide the figures. According to an article in Forbes magazine, YouTube generated $240 million in 2009, which is well below the site’s $710 million in operating costs. According to a Credit Suisse analyst, YouTube posted losses of $470 million in 2009; however, other companies estimate losses at €174.2 million.
In 2015, YouTube was considered unprofitable, and in 2014 it reported revenue of $4 trillion, up from $3 billion the year before, but after paying quickly for content and equipment that play videos, the balance was at a break-even point, that is, it didn’t make or lose money. These results reflect the difficulties she has in expanding her audience, which is mainly made up of teenagers and tweens. Most users use the site as a repository of videos accessible from links or embedded code that are published on other pages, rather than visiting YouTube.com.
In February 2015, YouTube launched a mobile app known as YouTube Kids. The app is designed for kids and has a streamlined interface, with channel selections whose content is appropriate for kids and parental control features. Later, on August 26, 2015, YouTube launched YouTube Gaming, a video game-focused subsite and app that aims to compete with Amazon.com Twitch.tv. During the year 2015, a premium YouTube service called YouTube Red was also announced, offering users ad-free content as well as the ability to download videos, among other things.
On August 10, 2015, Google announced the creation of a new company, Alphabet, which would act as Google’s holding company, with the change in financial reporting taking effect in the fourth quarter of 2015. YouTube remains a subsidiary of Google. In January 2016, YouTube expanded its headquarters in San Bruno by purchasing offices for $215 million. The complex can accommodate up to 2800 employees.
YouTube also revamped the look of its mobile app in August 2017. In Latin America, it happened on September 4, 2017. The Video Platform YouTube has unveiled new features of its mobile app, such as a new design, playback speeds, auto-viewing and full-screen options. In its official blog, the platform pointed out that it was evolving, so they started a series of updates over the rest of the year, with a new level of functionality and a constant look across mobile and desktop experiences. It pointed out that the new design consists of an empty header, so that the content stands out, and moves from the navigation tabs to the bottom of the app, so that they are closer to the thumbs.
It also explained that new tabs have been added in the library and on the account that give you easy access to what you’re looking for. In addition, it explained that earlier this year, a manager was introduced that allows you to double the key on the left or right side of a video to quickly move forward or backward by 10 seconds.
The San Bruno, California-based company said that in the coming months, “we’re going to experiment with a feature that allows you to jump between videos with one movement: just swipe left to watch a previous video or swipe right to see the next one.” In the case of speed, he said that users like to speed up and slow down the playback of a video on the desktop, so this function has been moved to the mobile app, so users give it the speed they want. It will also add a feature that will allow you to view lines of suggested videos while watching a video in full screen, while soon changing the way videos are viewed vertically, in a box, or horizontally, without black bars on the sides.
YouTube changed its logo for the first time in its history, released on August 29, 2017. Now the logo has the word YouTube with all its black letters, while the red “play” symbol appears on the left side.
On November 11, 2020, Youtube went down worldwide, causing social media to fill up with memes.
Origin of the name YouTube
You represent that the content is generated by the user and not by the site itself, hence its slogan “spread yourself”. Tube is a nod to an old original term for television and early monitors that were common when the company had just started.
In the United States, tube is synonymous with television, and refers to cathode ray tubes, in addition, video cameras had a tube as a component to emit images. TV commercials touted the latest technology behind their “color image tubes” and gave popularity to the term in the 70s and 80s, but it has been in decline ever since.
The word “television” contains the Greek prefix “tele”, which means “at a distance”. In this sense, the transmissions at the beginning could not be recorded, so all the programming was live. It was only from the use of vacuum tubes that it was possible to retransmit the same program but with different schedules.
Features and reviews
About video search
YouTube maintains a logistics that allows you to locate any video through the metadata tags, titles, and descriptions that users assign to their videos, but whose use is limited to videos hosted on YouTube. However, as a result of Google’s purchase of YouTube, Google Video began adding YouTube content to its searches.
In June 2007, an important step was taken towards the internationalization of the site, translating its interface into several languages, including Spanish.
Player
The design of the player is minimalist and lightweight, based on a predetermined color: light gray, as the company seeks comfort when it comes to the type of Internet band. The first YouTube player had a curved and simple design, with the options standing out in the form of buttons. In mid-2007, the second switched to a cleaner and more modern one, with a straighter structure and with options separated by shared spaces. Added options such as adding annotations, pausing by clicking on the player’s screen, banner ads similar to those that appear on TV, original and translated subtitles. Sometimes short spots are included before the video.
On January 21, 2010, the player options added a drop-down menu to select the video quality to view and two new icons to change the player size and display the video in full screen, respectively. When there are subtitles, an icon appears to display them.
Recently, YouTube has also added the ability to watch videos in 3D and resolutions up to Ultra High Definition. On the other hand, there is the possibility to view the subtitles, which are in SubViewer format (*. SUB) and SubRip(*. SRT).
Each video has its own web beacon that allows you to openly advertise its popularity. In 2012, the YouTube code was reprogrammed to differentiate two types of material based on the number of its views. Videos with a counter that does not reach three hundred views are considered “harmless”. On the other hand, those that have been visited more than three hundred times are checked manually to ensure the legitimacy of the number of visits.
For this reason, the counter freezes and does not momentarily reflect in real time the number of people who have already seen the video. Once you have passed the verification, the counter is updated and the visits that had been left pending are added. However, an error in programming the code determined that the number is three hundred one and not three hundred, which produced different reactions on the part of users to the apparent arbitrariness of the number. As a result, the phenomenon became known as the mystery of the 301 visits.
Video quality
On Google Video and other video sites, there are complaints about the quality, given that the videos are pixelated (larger boxes of uniform colors appear, in the form of a mosaic), largely due to the balance between image quality and data transmission speed. on the network. Another problem is that in a number of clips, audio and video are not synchronized; although this depends on the format of the original file.
In general, all videos must occupy a disk space of no more than 2 GB and must be less than or as long as 15 minutes, with an additional tolerance of 59 seconds of recording, for a total duration of 15:59 seconds. All videos are converted to resolutions of 320×240 and 480×360 pixels, and at 30 frames per second, although videos hosted before March 2008 are only available in the lowest resolution. Even though all videos are displayed by default in a lower resolution, users can play them in high quality by adjusting their preferences.
Not all YouTube videos have been optimized or converted to high-resolution format; however, there is a small percentage that is, and to display them, you need to add the parameter “&fmt=6” (without quotation marks) to the end of the URL. The video would still be a video in FLV format but with higher quality, as long as there is such a version; otherwise, only the normal version will be displayed. As an alternative method, “&fmt=18” can be added, a setting available for almost all videos (in MP4 format).
Since the end of 2008, you can watch HD videos with 720p quality and since 2009 with 1080p quality, accessible by choosing the desired quality in one of the buttons that appears in the lower right corner of the video. Like the HQ (high quality) format, the HD (high definition) format will only be displayed if the version exists.
On November 25, 2008, YouTube changed the aspect ratio of its video player from 4:3 to 16:9, following the standard for LCD and plasma TVs, and also in line with the company’s intentions to stream full movies in the future. This change in appearance applies to all videos, so those in 4:3 aspect ratio look with black stripes Later, QHD (1440p) and 4K or Ultra High Definition resolutions were added. In July 2015, 8K resolution was added (up to 7,680 × 4,320 pixels), 16 times more than high definition and 75 times higher than pal. Moreover, in November 2016, support was added for downloading and playing HDR videos.
In June 2014, YouTube introduced videos that play at 60 frames per second, in order to play video games with a frame rate comparable to that of high-end graphics cards. Videos play with a resolution of 720p or higher. YouTube videos are available in a variety of quality levels. The old names of standard quality (SQ), high quality (HQ) and high definition (HD) have been replaced by numerical values that represent the vertical resolution of the video. The default video stream is encoded in VP9 format with Opus stereo audio; If VP9/WebM is not supported on the browser/device or Windows XP is used, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video with stereo AAC audio will be used.
In January 2015, Google announced that YouTube would allow 360° video downloading. Since March 13, 2015, 360° videos can be viewed on Google Cardboard, a virtual reality platform. YouTube 360° can also be viewed from all other VR platforms.
Updates on YouTube
Throughout its history, YouTube has released updates to several of its features in an effort to provide a better experience for its users. The latter was imposed in January 2010, introducing several additional options, although the most notable was its design change: the most important imposed option was the sharing of videos via new social networks that did not exist before, such as Tuenti, Vkontakte, Tumblr or other services, such as Blogger.
In addition, the inbox now allows you to see all messages in a single view, and they load much faster than in the past. So, you can now see comments on videos, replies to private messages, and invitations on the same page. Messages can also be sent to many recipients.
Video management has received a significant improvement and among the most notable changes jumps to the naked eye a lighter interface, with expandable menus, more concise information and more on-screen editing options. The management of contacts and subscriptions has also been updated, and now they can be organized more easily and quickly. You can, for example, view data from multiple contacts simply by marking them, or apply labels and organize them into groups, all in a very simple way.
Downloading songs can not only be done from iTunes, but also from different services imposed by the author of the video himself. This option is an improvement, as it was available since 2008.
In September 2011, the 15-minute video limit restriction was removed, but only for certain accounts. This functionality is automatically lost if the user violates community policies and/or has committed copyright infringement and/or has been the subject of content id claims.
Supported file formats on YouTube
YouTube supports video formats. MOV, . MPEG4, .MP4, .AVI, . WMV, . MPEGPS, . FLV, .3GPP and WebM.
Copy Restriction
To avoid copies of video files, they were first distributed in flash format (FLV), owned by the Adobe Flash company, which prevents users from making digital copies easily. Despite this, several programmers have developed tools that allow, without YouTube permission, the download of videos hosted on the site. Nowadays, there are countless apps to access YouTube video download; Moreover, there is already a tool to download videos in high definition.
The Google Chrome browser has applied a restriction whereby chrome web store extensions to download videos, do not allow to do so with those of YouTube.
Copyright
YouTube has profoundly changed the definition of copyright in videos, because before 2005, they only applied to music shared by P2P. Most videos that users post on YouTube contain copyrighted music or images, but the company only removes them if the copyright owner requires it. When videos are deleted, the account of the user who posted them is suspended after receiving at least three warnings. In addition, music producers can request the cancellation of audio tracks from videos that include soundtracks or music that has not been allowed to be included, leaving no sound.
In 2017, the sanctions are as follows:
- In the event that a current or archived live stream is deleted for copyright infringement, access to the live streaming feature will be restricted for ninety days.
- In the event that the user receives three warnings for non-compliance, the account will be terminated, all videos of it will be deleted, and he will not be able to create new accounts.
Notices of non-compliance are made when the copyright owner submits a complete and valid legal application.
Dispute with Viacom
One of the most well-known cases occurred in February 2007 before the request of Viacom, the parent company of the MTV network, and Nickelodeon children’s channels Nick Jr., Nick Jr. 2 and Noggin, to remove more than 100,000 videos from their site, as they could not reach an economic agreement with the company so that users could use Viacom’s content. The dispute between the two companies escalated on March 13, when Viacom publicly announced that it had sued YouTube and its owner Google Inc. for alleged copyright infringement in excess of $1 billion in damages. In response, some YouTube users uploaded videos to the site urging other users to boycott Viacom. Google responded by arguing that it respects copyright and will not allow the pursuit to become a distraction from YouTube’s solid and continued growth.
YouTube as an advertising platform
Since May 2007, 15-30 second ad videos and another pop-up style have started appearing on YouTube for any company that requests it. The type of ad shown to the user is completely random and unrelated to the content of the video they were looking to see or the keywords used in the search.
For the standard YouTube downloader, you can prevent your own videos from having third-party ads, but no YouTube downloader is paid to keep the ads on your videos.
However, in recent years (2010-present), whoever publishes the video can choose whether or not to insert ads, and what type (in several parts of the video, only one at the start of playback, a banner), and depending on factors such as the number of views, the type of content, etc. They receive some compensation from Google.
In addition to television
Some American channels have created webisodes, short five-minute episodes whose plot is related to the original series from which they are derived, which are distributed exclusively on the Internet. These episodes emerged as an alternative method, following the 2007-2008 Hollywood screenwriters’ strike, to reach a truly global audience. An example of these short films is Qué vida más triste, which was later broadcast by the Spanish channel La Sexta. In addition, it has been established that YouTube does not steal an audience from television, in fact it stimulates it, since, even if a program is not successful in its country of origin, it is possible that on YouTube does so, attracting more audiences than expected. This is what happened with the Spanish Program Muchachada Nui, which is already widely known in Latin America.
YouTube Premium
YouTube Premium is YouTube’s premium subscription service. It offers ad-free streaming, access to exclusive content, background video playback, and offline access on mobile devices. YouTube Premium was originally announced on November 12, 2014 as “Music Key”, a subscription music streaming service, and intended to integrate and replace the existing “All Access” service from Google Play Music (currently Youtube Music). On October 28, 2015, the service was relaunched as YouTube Premium, offering ad-free streaming on all videos, as well as access to the free YouTube Originals series.
Copyright payments
Google (owner of YouTube) received lawsuits for copyright and violations of intellectual property law in videos that were uploaded to the platform, which is why it was forced to create contracts with broadcasters and producers, to this was added the creation of accounts for TV channels to add additional content.
According to YouTube’s July 2016 statistics page, the company had paid out $2 billion to copyright holders who had decided to monetize claims since the launch of Content ID in 2007.
Impact of YouTube on popular culture and society
YouTube has had a huge impact on popular culture; proof of this is the award of “Invention of the Year”, awarded by Time magazine in November 2006. The site has become such a popular means of dissemination for the dissemination of Internet phenomena of all kinds that it has even been used by important personalities such as Tony Blair, who published there his congratulatory message to the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, on his election. The site is also a means of promotion for artists and politicians on the campaign trail who have their own space or channel; this is the case of Citizen Tube, a space where politicians campaigning for the US elections present their proposals and comments on video blogs. Similarly, the European Commission has launched a space within YouTube to communicate with citizens.
Although the themes are very varied and diverse, several positive trends have been shown in videos and comment lists where users pour out impressions of the video viewed. For example, there are videos with images of cities and provinces, which for the most part show the brotherhood between people and peoples; various courses for educational, technical and scientific purposes, such as the exhibition of medical videos of operations and autopsies, gastronomic samples, historical archives, comedy or entertainment in general. Therefore, YouTube is a platform that concentrates a wide repertoire of practices that promote informal learning. However, pornography is not tolerated, even if, as a result of this ban, a group of people outside YouTube created YouPorn.
The site has been criticized for hosting videos about fights between members of different races in the United States or between schoolchildren, where girls even appear fighting. Some of these videos were made exclusively for distribution on YouTube. In addition, terrorism-related videos and webcam videos have appeared where erotic poses are exposed without reaching nudity. Some of these last images were exhibited without the permission of the people filmed. In this category are voyeur videos, usually captured by mobile phones with built-in video, which show images of recordings of women’s or men’s private parts on public transport or on public roads. These videos are filmed without the permission of the people filmed.
Controversies
Viral videos
Another feature of the portal is that it has been considered the main platform for the dissemination of viral videos. These refer to an infinite number of videos, whether they are extracted from various media such as television, music promotion videos or video lovers, to which in particular the expected audience finds some generally comical characteristics, so that they begin to spread them through blogs. or other social networks so that they are seen by more people. Many of these videos are totally spontaneous and were not made for the initial purpose of being viral videos, nor for later profit, the viewers themselves are the ones who make them have this broadcasting behavior on the Net.
An example is the fame achieved by a Peruvian television makeup artist named Judith Bustos, known as La Tigresa del Oriente, who, together with the exhibition of a Nuevo amanecer music video clip, was a viral video that responded to an infinite number of diverse reactions, including considering its presentation as a camp or also a kitsch, is because the small company that produced it, Éxitos del mundo, which emerged from the bankruptcy of the entire phonographic industry in Peru in the mid-1990s, had limited resources for its production, not using those usually owned by a television company.
A similar example that usually characterizes a viral video is the one that depicts the Indian actor Chiranjeevi, who in 1985 filmed a scene in which he uses elements similar to the Michael Jackson Thriller music video, which in itself was not a parody, but an expression of the popularity of the American singer in the Indian community captured in a video. What made it a viral video was the extraction of this scene from the film for which it was made and its subsequent exposure on YouTube, which viewers around the world perceived as a parody, which was not the case.
The impact of a viral video is totally uncertain and with different destinations, but it becomes such that it gives rise to create all kinds of parodies even made by the national television channels of the world, also reaching profits, this is also reflected in the advertising of some countries. There are a few exceptions when certain videos are edited with the aim of being viral videos.
Unexpected collateral uses
The site’s service has also been used by organized crime, such as drug cartels, as a propaganda tool. The most common case being music videos. In addition, these criminal organizations have published images of their crimes to increase media impact and scare off their rivals, although the videos are immediately removed by the administrators.
An unprecedented case occurred during the abduction of Mexican cattle rancher Luis Fierro from the Mexican state of Guerrero. A video recorded by his captors was hosted on the site; however, their access was restricted with a key. In the video, he threatened to pay the ransom. Another related issue is the appeal YouTube represents for terrorist groups who also use it for propaganda and manipulation purposes. In response, Google says it is continually improving its monitoring and filtering mechanisms and urges its users to report any issues in the system.
YouTube also hosted a video filmed by South Korea’s Cho Seung-Hui, which contained a speech from him. This video was hosted shortly before Cho executed the Virginia Tech massacre in the United States.
The YouTube service has a tool for reporting violations that violate the terms of service. These include a ban on hosting material that encourages racial hatred and hate speech. In this way, users can send a review request to the video in question, as well as reviews and comments from it, so that they are evaluated and, if necessary, deleted.
In other areas, the site has served as an unusual platform to showcase unknown talent. For example, the most famous in the world is represented by Susan Boyle. Thanks to the fact that a video from the British show Britain’s Got Talent allowed him to make himself known all over the world, his talent as a performer was valued and this is how a complete stranger both in his country and in the rest of the world took a great notoriety when a talent recognized by the public was discovered.
COPPA Act
On September 4, 2019, YouTube was fined $ 170 million by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for breaking the law, including tracking the viewing history of minors to facilitate advertising for users. As a result, YouTube announced in 2020 that it required content creators to mark videos “aimed at children” as such, and machine learning should be used to mark them as “intended for infants” if there were videos that are not marked. Under the terms of the regulation, content creators who did not mark the videos as “aimed at children” could be fined up to $42,000 per video by the FTC, prompting criticism over the terms of the settlement.
Localization
On June 19, 2007, Google CEO Eric E. Schmidt released the new location system in Paris. The site interface has since been available in the United States and in versions for 104 countries.
Currently, many of these domains have been deprecated, so the main domain of “youtube.com” is used. The YouTube interface suggests which version should be chosen based on the user’s IP address or browser-set language, although this can be changed manually from the settings section of the page. Some videos are not available in some countries due to copyright restrictions or because they contain inappropriate content.
The YouTube website uses English by default, but is available in a total of 80 languages.
YouTube blocking, censorship and monitoring
In total, at least 24 countries have blocked YouTube in the past, including Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, China, Pakistan, Thailand and Turkey. In the UK and Germany, YouTube has decided to block music videos in the past to avoid problems with copyright companies.
As part of the 2013 global surveillance leaks, a document from the British intelligence agency GCHQ dated August 2012 provided details of a surveillance program called Squeaky Dolphin, which allows GCHQ to thoroughly monitor in real time the various features of pages and social networks, such as youTube video visits, all without the consent or knowledge of the companies that provide these services. Squeaky Dolphin allows you to collect, analyze and use real-time data obtained from YouTube for analysis purposes. The program is able to collect addresses from more than 1 billion videos viewed daily, as well as user data. In North Korea, there is no access to YouTube because Internet censorship is total, and in Eritrea, it is almost impossible.
China
Internet users in China have experienced problems accessing YouTube on a few occasions. During the 2008 riots in Tibet, YouTube was blocked by the government. In addition, on March 3, 2009, it was reported that YouTube had been blocked again. In the same month, between the ages of 23 and 24, Google reported that internet traffic from China had dropped significantly.
Although the Chinese government did not specify whether or not it had blocked the site, the access problems faced by Chinese users coincided with the emergence of a video showing a soldier fatally hitting a Tibetan protester. According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, the video was fabricated by members of the Tibetan government in exile. According to the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, as of March 30, Chinese users could already access YouTube without problems. Subsequently, YouTube would be replaced in China by local equivalents such as iQiyi, which are more in line with that country’s culture and official guidelines.
Turkey
By early March 2009, YouTube had been blocked eleven times in Turkey. Most of the time, this action was due to the appearance of videos mocking the politician Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, considered the father of the Turkish nation. The conflicts between the Eurasian nation and YouTube began in March 2007, when Turkey blocked the popular video site for a video site of Greek origin, which violated Turkish law, slandering Atatürk.
Although YouTube removed the video, the Turkish government later requested the removal of other videos that violated its law, including videos created by Kurdish militias. Since then, according to Turkish newspapers, a virtual war has started on YouTube between Greeks and Turks, where each party uploaded videos to the site whose sole purpose was to insult the history or culture of the opposing side. YouTube removed videos that violated the site’s rules and blocked videos that violated Turkish laws to prevent IP addresses of Turkish origin from accessing them. However, in June 2008, a Turkish prosecutor asked YouTube to block these videos worldwide, claiming to prevent Turks abroad from viewing them. Given YouTube’s refusal of this new request, a new blockade was initiated that lasted at least until November of the same year.
Germany
In early April 2009, YouTube stopped streaming videos in Germany, unable to reach an agreement with GEMA, Germany’s largest copyright company. YouTube and GEMA had an agreement that expired in March 2009, but did not renew it since, according to YouTube spokespersons, GEMA was asking for higher fees, even higher than those claimed by its Uk counterpart. This auto-block represents the loss of 13 million German visitors per month, or 4.33% of YouTube visitors worldwide. Currently, the producer of the German film Der Untergang has asked YouTube to remove the thousands of parodies from his film.
Thailand
In late 2006, Thailand blocked access to the site in response to videos insulting Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, considered a crime in that country. The Thai government gave Google a list of twenty videos they considered offensive, demanding their removal to lift the blockade. Google executives blocked videos that violated Thai law, which enjoyed broad popular support, in order to prevent Thai IP addresses from accessing them. A series of videos that did not violate the law but were considered offensive by the Government were not blocked, a solution that the Thai Government accepted.
Morocco
It blocked access in May 2007, possibly following videos criticizing Morocco’s occupation of the Western Sahara. YouTube became accessible again on May 30, 2007, after Maroc Telecom unofficially announced that denying access to the website was a mere “technical problem.”
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sudan
They blocked access in September 2012 following a controversy over a 14-minute trailer for the film Innocence of Muslims that had been published on the site. A court in the Chechen Republic in southern Russia has ruled that the innocence of Muslims should be banned. In Libya and Egypt, he has been blamed for violent protests. YouTube stated that “this video, which is widely available on the web, is clearly in line with our guidelines and will therefore remain on YouTube. However, given the very difficult situation in Libya and Egypt, we have temporarily restricted access to both countries.
Live streaming
On October 25, 2009, a U2 360° Tour concert, shot by Irish band U2, was broadcast live from Rose Bowl Stadium in California. It was the first full concert broadcast live on YouTube. On December 1, 2009, Alicia Keys’ concert was broadcast live from New York, USA. This is the second full concert to be broadcast live on YouTube. On January 22, 2010, a concert for Haiti’s hope was also broadcast live from New York. Several artists have been invited, such as Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Shakira, U2, Coldplay, Taylor Swift and others.
On January 27, 2011, YouTube released the premiere of Director Kevin McDonald’s Life in a Day, a film generated by the video contributions of thousands of users on YouTube.
Since July 1, 2011 began live broadcasts of the matches of the Copa America 2011. As of July 5, the Copa America channel had 61,761 subscribers, but this broadcast for unknown reasons has been blocked in many countries.
On April 7, 2013, YouTube aired WWE WrestleMania SuperBowl Pre-Show Live.
YouTube Partners
From 2011, the “Youtube Partner” project began, which consists of granting real income via Google Adsense or “networks” which are companies that pay users with the largest audience of YouTube, called YouTubers or YouTuber. Only U.S.-based media companies represented on YouTube can become networks. This feature has enabled media companies and independent users who receive large quantities of reproductions to be able to receive an economic income, in order to improve the quality of work.Those who are part of this contract have the option to place ads either in the video or next to it, in order to obtain revenue from advertisers who invest in advertising in the videos stored on this site.
YouTube Premium
On November 12, 2014, Youtube Music Key, the video portal’s subscription streaming service, was officially announced. Music Key offers the ability to stream music directly from YouTube without ads using its own app, it also allows you to play in the background, watch content offline, create custom lists and receive recommendations.
It was first launched as YouTube Red and then renamed YouTube Premium. It offers three months of free service and a monthly payment of $9.99 in the US and €9.99 in Europe. The subscription also includes the Youtube Music service.
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