Bill Gates YouTubes

 
By Sherri June 23, 2006




It seems the guru of computers himself enjoys a little YouTube now and again – even the not-so-legal content.

From Valley Wag:

Yes, the Microsoft chairman, whose company cracks down on software pirates, entertains himself with arguably pirated video on YouTube. He admitted it in the Wall Street Journal:
MR. GATES: If we did YouTube, we'd be in a lot of trouble. First of all, people would say, "How do you make money?" Second, they'd say, what about all that copyright violation taking place up there. It's a neat site. I saw a bunch of old Harlem Globetrotters movies up there the other night, it's great.

MS. SWISHER: You watch physics lectures and Harlem Globetrotters?

MR. GATES: This social-networking thing takes you to crazy places.

MS. SWISHER: But those were stolen, correct?

MR. GATES: Stolen's a strong word. It's copyrighted content that the owner wasn't paid for. So yes.

I'm honestly not even sure what to say about this one. I've made it pretty clear I'm very much against piracy for selfish reasons. I want to see the artists and creators get paid and get paid well so the good ones will keep on working and coming up with good stuff for us to watch, listen to and read.

YouTube, however, is a stroke of genius and a very neat reflection of what's hot and what's not in pop culture. Seems Bill thinks so, too. And, well frankly, who doesn't love a little Globetrotter antics now and again?

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