[ insider_reports_insider ]
MSN Closes Soapbox Over Infringing Videos
David Utter
Staff Writer
2007-03-23
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
YouTube isn't the only video sharing site receiving uploads containing copyrighted works; Microsoft has had to shutter its Soapbox site to new users.
 | | MSN Closes Soapbox Over Infringing Videos |  |
Signed-up members of Soapbox can still use the site, but Microsoft has put up a big "Go Away" sign for everyone else arriving there:
In order to grow and implement some important new features , Soapbox temporarily requires you to login using your Windows Live ID before you can watch or upload videos. If you don't have a Soapbox account, we'll be opening the doors again very soon with some cool new stuff to try.
CNet News said the now-mostly shuttered Soapbox had some issues with the same problems plaguing YouTube, which has resulted in tons of legal troubles for YouTube's owner Google:
The software giant, which agreed earlier Thursday to distribute movies and TV shows for big media companies, has seen Soapbox fill up with unauthorized clips since a test version of the site launched last month.
Microsoft stood to be embarrassed by the existence of pirated work on Soapbox.
That embarrassment would have happened thanks to the role MSN will have in the new all-against-Google video effort announced recently by News Corp and NBC Universal. MSN will be a distributor of content for them, along with AOL, MySpace, and Yahoo.
At the beginning of March, news emerged about a memo Microsoft quietly circulated to major Hollywood power players. Avoid using filtering technology, as using Soapbox will be a better option.
Even if Microsoft hadn't barred the doors to Soapbox over the posting of infringing content, they probably would have had to do so anyway to implement their better-than filtering technology. Distributing legal content on one channel and hosting illegal content on another would have been disturbing to Microsoft's Big Media friends.
---
Tags: Microsoft, Soapbox, Videos
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
More insider_reports_insider Articles
Insider Reports RSS Feed
|
|
iEntry 10th Anniversary
RSS
Archive
