What’s the biggest issue when dealing with social websites and networks?
Getting them to turn a profit.
So now Youtube has done some thinking and come up with a way to generate income without turning it into a mess of advertising banners. They go down the same road as other information sources have already tried and tested: is pay-per-download.
Authors can opt in and allow their videos to be downloaded for a particular fee, allowing them to store a copy of the video on their local machine. There will possibly be several licenses available, much like the system Flickr implements.
Of course this method is open for abuse and sharing, especially since it seems that initially the files won’t be DRM signed - which is fantastic for all you seeders out there.
Wired makes a good point though as the industry that seems to benefit the most from this setup are the music labels, as we all know that music videos are often in the most viewed/popular items in YouTube statistics. But if those labels choose to go their own way (a la Hulu) - what videos would actually be worth paying for and keeping would definitely reduce - think of all the rubbish that is stored on YouTube….
All that being said though, there are a few videos and such I would love to grab that cannot be found anywhere else besides video sharing websites, so I say bring it on!
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