Fox vs. YouTube: Ulterior Motives?
Google Watch reports that Fox is now asking YouTube for details on users who uploaded episodes of 24 and The Simpsons. The Hollywood Reporter followed up with details about the user in question, and that Fox is also going after the lesser-known LiveDigital. Mashable points out that this is a change from the normal practice of serving a DMCA takedown notice, and that Paramount was successful in its own request for user data from YouTube (though before the Google acquisition).
What nobody seems to be pointing out is that Fox’s parent, News Corp, is in direct competition with Google and YouTube thanks to MySpace — where Fox is currently streaming the very epsiodes of 24 in question. It’s well-known that News Corp was not thrilled about the Google-YouTube tie-up, and Fox content appearing on YouTube is an ideal opportunity for News Corp to apply pressure to its “frenemy.”
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Larry Dignan wrote a good analysis of Google/YouTube’s relationship with Viacom/Fox here: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=4357
Thanks for the link, Steve. Interesting analysis.