Party Over For YouTube?

A few days ago the San Francisco Chronicle’s Peter Hartlaub wondered aloud if the party was going to be over at YouTube now that The Man (aka Google) had come to the party.

Well, today’s indication is that, yes, the party may be cooling off a bit. At least for those of use partying along to clips from Japanese television, the party might be over, because YouTube announced today that they would be purging 30,000 copyright infringing videos at the request of a group of Japanese media companies.

A few weeks ago, one of the funnier items in YouTube’s listing of most popular items was a clip from a show featuring a booby trapped portable toilet. That clip, had been viewed nearly 10 million times, and is now gone.

YouTube still has tons of content, but one has to wonder if this is the first of many of these types of announcements. And if the lack of crazy clips from Japanese television is going to somehow reduce the buzz at the YouTube party.

Friday October 20, 2006