Youtube

YouTube may have removed pirated copies of the unreleased film Sicko, but apparently those operating sister site Google Video didn't get the memo right away.

As of 10:15 a.m. Monday morning, Michael Moore's soon-to-be released documentary was available on Google's video-sharing site in its entirety and was also available for download. This contrasts with YouTube, which restricts most videos on the site to be under 10 minutes in length. Google Video has no such restriction.

Update, 11:30 a.m. PDT: Google Video has removed Sicko.

Last week, bootleg versions of Moore's expose on … Read more

YouTube has begun offering a Web-based editing tool that is apparently provided by Adobe Systems.

The "remixer," which is branded with an Adobe logo, enables users to create more professional-looking videos by splicing together media such as video clips, photos, music, graphics and other effects, according to information found on the site.

Representatives of YouTube and Adobe could not be reached for comment Saturday morning.

YouTube follows such competitors as Photobucket and Yahoo Video, which offer similar tools. Photobucket, for instance, launched an Adobe-branded editor in February, and Yahoo acquired Jumpcut, a pioneer in Internet-based editing tools, last … Read more

YouTube has started testing a new beta interface on their site. This opt-in test lets users get a sneak peek at what YouTube's designers have been working on.

The new design features easier access to more films by the user that you are currently watching, as well as separate sections for Related Videos and Promoted Videos. According to Nathan Weinberg from InsideGoogle, the actual size of the video has also been upped to 480x395. The look and feel of the links below the video has also been improved and includes new, larger icons. The coolest improvement in this new … Read more

In a joint announcement on Thursday, YouTube and CNN unveiled their plans for co-sponsored Democratic and Republican presidential debates that aim to bring the standard televised events into the digital age of mashups, remixes and viral buzz. Not only will video content from the events (as well as other CNN debates) be made available for sharing and distribution online, but the debate questions themselves will come in the form of videos sent in by YouTube users.

(Video: YouTube's call for submissions)

In a dial-in press conference, representatives from both companies explained the new process and answered questions from reporters--on hand were Jon Klein, president of CNN U.S.; David Bohrman, CNN's senior vice president and Washington, D.C. bureau chief; Chad Hurley, YouTube's CEO and co-founder; and Steve Grove, YouTube's news and politics editor.

All four projected eager enthusiasm that this new debate format would bring a more democratic angle to the way campaign dialogue is conducted. "This is how debates would have been done since the beginning of time, had the technology been available," Klein extolled. "It's really powerful, and it really brings the country to the presidential candidates in a very visual and contextual way," added Grove.

… Read more

In a press call on Thursday morning, CNN and YouTube will unveil the details for the cable news channel's upcoming presidential debate coverage, claiming that the two are "teaming up to provide an unprecedented debate format offering voters a larger role than ever before in debate history."

The press event will feature Jon Klein, president of CNN U.S.; David Bohrman, CNN's senior vice president and Washington, D.C. bureau chief; Chad Hurley, YouTube's CEO and co-founder; and Steve Grove, YouTube's news and politics editor.

The traditional ownership format of televised presidential debate content, … Read more

HeyCast is a new service from the folks that made HeyWatch [review], the online video conversion service. It lets you grab videos from popular hosting sites such as YouTube, Google Video, and Apple's Quicktime movie trailers site, and clump them together into a handy RSS feed you or anyone else can subscribe to in iTunes or other feed readers. The feed isn't just your standard RSS though--HeyCast grabs the Flash videos, converts them, and makes them available for offline viewing on your computer or portable devices.

I gave it a go this morning and came across a few … Read more

According to Trend Micro, a Trojan horse that downloads a certain YouTube video could compromise your computer. The video appears to be an episode of Afterworld, a Web TV series about a society where technology is dead. Security vendor Websense has also been tracking this Trojan horse and has traced the video to a .su domain, which was originally assigned to the former Soviet Union and still remains in use today.

The use of online media files to infect end users with malware is not new. A worm last October used a JavaScript flaw in Apple Quicktime to spread on … Read more

YouTube just rolled out a change to its embedded player. Now, when you mouse over a playing video, everywhere but on YouTube.com itself, you get a fancy list of related videos across the bottom of the player, like the Mac OS Dock. There are also next and previous arrows on the sides of the player now.

Formerly, you had to wait for a video to end before you got the list of relateds. With this new feature, you don't have to wait anymore. Bored with what you're watching? Zap on over to another vid in a heartbeat. … Read more

Looks like YouTube is bringing sexy back. Former boy band sensation and current pop star du jour Justin Timberlake has signed Esmee Denters, an 18-year-old Dutch singer who got her start by building up buzz on the ubiquitous video-sharing site, to his new record label.

Timberlake, 26, founded Tennman Records in a joint venture with Interscope Records last month; Denters is the first artist signed.

But despite her karaoke-like start, Denters is no "Numa Numa" kid--she can actually sing. She's been performing in several European countries already after gaining a fan base through videos where she sang … Read more