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(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Joseph Weisenthal

Mon, Jun 4th 2007 7:09pm





Though Missed By Few, Microsoft's Soapbox Makes Its Return

from the back-from-the-dead dept

Back in March, Microsoft announced that it would temporarily suspend Soapbox, the company's YouTube clone, while it worked on technology to filter out copyrighted content. At the time, it seemed like this might simply be an excuse to quietly pull the plug on the service (which never seemed to go anywhere), especially considering the poor track record of this type of filtering technology. But the company is ready to give it another go, as Soapbox is back, sporting new technology that promises to filter out copyrighted content. It's not really clear, however, why Microsoft thinks this will really help the site. The challenge is, as always, actually getting users, not making nice with the entertainment companies. Microsoft keeps getting it backwards though, putting the cart before the horse, as it did with the Zune when it offered Universal Music a cut of every player sold. Perhaps the company is hoping that by making this overture to the entertainment industry, it can force Google to follow suit, potentially hamstringing YouTube. But the move could backfire, as it's easy to imagine hackers flooding Soapbox with copyrighted material just to see if they can outsmart the filters.

7 Comments | Leave a Comment

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  1.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Jun 5th, 2007 @ 12:02am

    No Copyrighted Content == No Content

    But the company is ready to give it another go, as Soapbox is back, sporting new technology that promises to filter out copyrighted content.
    If that's the case then they aren't going to have any US content because under US law everything is automatically copyrighted as soon as it is made.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  
    identicon
    Fluffy McNutter, Jun 5th, 2007 @ 2:04am

    Re: No Copyrighted Content == No Content

    If that's the case then they aren't going to have any US content because under US law everything is automatically copyrighted as soon as it is made.

    Maybe Mr. Softie wants to copyright your content for you.

    Thanks, Big Brother, why, I don't mind if you copyright that for me.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  
    identicon
    James, Jun 5th, 2007 @ 7:04am

    Actually...

    ..instead of "hackers" flooding that site w/copyrighted content in an attempt to bypass its filters the site is more likely to just die from irrelevance.

    And it should for cow-towing to the entertainment industry. If those a-holes can't recognize the promotional value of these types of sites they don't deserve the promotion.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  
    identicon
    Steven, Jun 5th, 2007 @ 7:40am

    Does anyone really care

    Hmmm, i dont think too many people are worried that it is back or not. www.crenk.com

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  
    identicon
    MooseDog, Jun 5th, 2007 @ 7:59am

    pithy

    "The challenge is, as always, actually getting users, not making nice with the entertainment companies"

    :agree:

    thus, among many other examples, the delay in vista and the irrational strikings of the content represenatives, imho.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  
    identicon
    Pitabred, Jun 5th, 2007 @ 8:12am

    Wait a second... what if I own the copyright to the video? The way the laws are, copyright is assigned as soon as anything is made any more, so could I sue Microsoft if a video I uploaded to Youtube was then uploaded by someone else to soapbox? Seems fair to me.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  7.  
    identicon
    Fred Flint, Jun 5th, 2007 @ 2:56pm

    Feedback for Micro$oft

    I think it would be hilarious if a bunch of people made videos about how crappy Microsoft products are and uploaded the videos to Soapbox.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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