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How ethical is YouTube in its dealings in the media industry?

Over the past few months, many have regarded Google’s investment in YouTube as a wrong decision because of the many possible lawsuits YouTube has been embroiled in. Critics feel that YouTube has infringed on copyright laws because of its allowance of spontaneous uploading of various videos. However I feel that YouTube is still ethical in its dealings in the media industry to a large extent.

The definition of ethics according to dictionary.com is A theory or a system of moral values. It can thus be assumed that ethics does not encompasses being politically correct or economically correct. YouTube’s actions of allowing anyone to just upload videos has nothing morally wrong.

Their dealings are honest, and with the normal terms of use governing the site, like stating clearly in it “users will have to agree that he will not submit material that is copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless he is the owner of such rights or have permission from their rightful owner to post the material and to grant YouTube all of the license rights granted herein” . This proves that YouTube has pre-warned its users against copyright, and YouTube has also on their own spent a great deal getting content license despite claiming that under the Federal Law, they are actually not breaking any intelluctual laws and copyright infringements.

The site’s main drawing point is its allowance of spontaneous uploading of videos, and everyone sharing these videos get to enjoy a wide range of videos anywhere, as long as internet connection is available. If the site sieves through the videos before they are allowed to be uploaded, many people might no longer visit the site because of the strict restrictions on what is uploaded, and immediacy is no longer there.


To what extent has the emergence of YouTube changed our medium of entertainment?
(how has YouTube changed the way we entertain ourselves?)

“ a year ago, they watched 10 million videos a day; now they watch 100 million.”
This statement of figures from Time Magazine affirms YouTube as a up and rising alternative to Cable television, changing the way we entertain ourselves. YouTube emerged to change our medium of entertainment to a tremendous extent, so much that investors are willing to pay millions to advertise on the site, proving YouTube’s popularity and ability to reach masses.

YouTube’s main selling point is their easily available videos from a wide range of genres. People like this idea of having all the videos they want to watch consolidated in one single place. Even cable television cannot provide this. They have to adhere to time slots for particular programmes, and can at most can only allow viewers to watch up to a maximum of two channels on the same screen, in the case of Starhub Video Mosaic, 16 small boxes on one screen for 16 different channels. Netizens can watch all the videos they want on different browsers simultaneously and instantaneously.
Unknowingly, YouTube has also created a culture and generation where people spend longer periods on leisure. We now spend more time on the computer because of the endless videos on YouTube, and it is highly unlikely that one will finish watching all that he want in one day because the uploads do not stop and more videos just keep coming in. The presence of commercials in television gives even the coach potatoes some minutes to take their eyes off the box and just take a break. YouTube does not have that. One can just watch videos for the whole day, with no commercials to cut them off from their endless entertainment. People become glued to their computers.

posted by GRACECHIA @ 5:01 PM