MySpace Gets Political 
By Sherri - (0) comments April 29, 2007



MySpace and Mark Burnett, the producer of "Survivor," are teaming up to bring a little bit of political pandering to the online community.

The new creation, "Independent," will be a reality offering designed to get young people interested in voting. Through the reality vehicle, contestants will vie for a cool million dollars to spend on a political cause or campaign.

According to San Jose Mercury News, contestants will discuss ideas online each day and will also have to set up their own MySpace pages dedicated to their campaigns. Potential participants will be selected from videos posted on MySpace.

Viewers and web users will also be able to get involved through "interactive town-hall settings."

This sounds like an interesting use of the Internet and MySpace – even if the show idea hasn't been picked up by a network as of yet. I have to admit, I'm not sure how interesting this would be played out on film, but still, it is a creative way to try and bring attention to the voting process, campaigning and politics in general.

Related:
YouTube, MySpace Video To DVD Possible
Foul Called On MySpace Censorship
MySpace Begins Selling "24"

Labels: 2008 elections, myspace, online tv, politics, survivor

NBC, News Corp. Gunning For YouTube 
By Sherri - (0) comments March 27, 2007



In a move that might put a serious beating on YouTube, NBC and News Corp. have announced a team up that will have a new video-sharing web site taking up residence on the Internet.

In addition, the two will license their content for use on multiple other sites, including MySpace, Microsoft’s MSN, AOL and Yahoo. Interestingly enough, YouTube’s not on the list. Through the deal, some videos will be offered for free and others will come at a charge. Content being discussed includes such shows as “The Simpson,” “Saturday Night Live” and more.

If that weren’t enough, the four named portals and the new site will also have an online music store, set to rival iTunes.

According to Australian IT, the service will be owned jointly by News Corp and NBC with Peter Chernin, News Corp’s president and COO, sitting on the board along with Jeff Zucker from NBC.

"This is a game-changer for internet video," Chernin is quoted as saying. "We'll have access to just about the entire US internet audience at launch."
Despite the obvious appearance of being a YouTube killer, Chernin says the site will be anything but. "We are, in fact, willing to talk to anybody who wants to distribute this, provided they meet our economic terms and obviously meet our copyright protection terms," Chernin says.

YouTube killer or not, the new service sounds like it will be a coup for viewers. NBC is absolutely catching on with the online viewing craze and this will only add to viewers’ options.

Related:
‘Raines’ Free On iTunes, NBC
NBC Kicks Up Online 'Heroes' Promotions

Labels: myspace, nbc, news corp., youtube

‘Gay Robot’ Scene Tops MySpace 
By Sherri - (0) comments March 09, 2007



The comedy pilot “Gay Robot” is drawing major attention on MySpace. A recent release of never-aired-footage from the pilot has received more than 300,000 views to date, putting the video on the top of the MySpace list.

Gay Robot’s MySpace page features a collection of clips, stills and more information about the show, which is based on the early works of Adam Sandler. Set at Alpha Tau Kappa (ATK) fraternity on the Central Illinois University campus, Gay Robot follows the story of a frat boy looking for love.

‘Gay Robot’ has amassed more than 22,000 friends and has had more than a million hits on its page. The show is a Happy Madison production and was created in association with Central Production and Sony Pictures Television.

A full copy of the pilot is available for free on BitTorrent.

Related:
MySpace Begins Selling "24"
Watch 'The OC’ On MySpace Before Your TV
Foul Called On MySpace Censorship

Labels: adam sandler, gay robot, myspace, sony

YouTube, MySpace Video To DVD Possible 
By Sherri - (0) comments February 25, 2007



While I’m not one to condone piracy in any form, the question of how to burn YouTube or MySpace videos to DVD often comes up. When the material’s not copyrighted, a handy, dandy DVD burn can be achieved.

The folks over at Digital Inspiration have put together a very good guide on how to make this happen, but they do have some warnings about anticipated quality. Don’t expect a great recreation, they warn: “Before you decide to watch Youtube videos on TV via your DVD player, keep in mind that the video quality will be very low - The video resolution on sites like YouTube or Google Video is 320x240 while DVD frame size is 720x480 for NTSC or 720x576 for PAL.”

If quality isn’t a concern, the process to make a burn is fairly simple. All it takes is downloading the video to a computer’s hard disk in Flash Video format. Tools like iTube and keepVid.com can help.

The second step is getting an authoring software program. They recommend DVD Flick for doing so, because titles, subtitles and other neat features can be added to make the presentation a little cooler.

Making a DVD burn of a MySpace or Google Video file is more than possible, but be warned, don’t do this at home with copyrighted materials. The Internet police are out in full force lately and their presence is only just being felt.

Related:
Disney/CinemaNow Download to DVD
Viacom Content Spiked From YouTube
Copyright Cops Are Getting Serious

Labels: dvd burning, myspace, youtube

YouTube To Filter Out Pirates 
By Sherri - (0) comments February 24, 2007



Pirates beware! YouTube will no longer be a safe haven in a storm.

The Mercury News is reporting the site will soon start filtering content to make sure pirated videos aren’t posted. YouTube intends to use technology called Audible Magic, which is already in use by MySpace, to keep pirates at bay on the site.

Venture Beat’s writers find the news a bit off since Google has stated it intended to create its own programs to filter copyrighted material, much to the dismay of many major media outlets. Venture Beat’s question is “why?”

If Mercury’s report turns out to be true, it’s my prediction that Google/YouTube ran out of time. The movement to fight piracy on the Internet is serious and it’s strong. The longer the site goes without some form of protection for copyright holders, the wider open it leaves the door for litigation.

Here’s hoping YouTube’s really doing something beyond just removing files when they’re complained about or discovered. Catching it on the front end, when possible, is a heck of a lot more efficient.

Related:
‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ On YouTube
YouTube Policy Redo, User Gets Threatened
YouTube's Legitimization Continues
Viacom Content Spiked From YouTube

Labels: google, myspace, pirates, video piracy, youtube