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Optional (not required to watch most videos; required for certain tasks such as uploading videos, viewing flagged (18+) videos, creating playlists and posting comments)
Launched
April23, 2005;20 years ago(2005-04-23)
Current status
Active
YouTube is a freevideo sharing website that lets people upload, view, and share contents. Contents can be rated with a like or dislike, most contents can be commented on if logged in to an account, and the number of times a video has been watched (known as "views") is put on the site. Users who have accounts can also subscribe to channels. At the moment,Google (a search engine company) owns and operates YouTube. Many different types of videos can be put onto the website, such as educational content, animations, and funny stuff. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005 by six or seven former workers ofPayPal.[4][5]
YouTube needed the Adobe Flash Player plug-in to play videos in the past.[6] However, in January 2010, YouTube tried using the built-in features of web browsers so people would not need to use Adobe Flash player to watch videos.[7]
All YouTube users can upload 15-minute long videos. Users who have used the site for enough time and follow the rules can upload videos that are 12 hours long. A user needs to verify the account to do this, however.[8] Everyone could upload long videos when YouTube started, but in March 2006 a ten-minute video limit was put in.[9] The limit was changed to 15 minutes in July 2010. Most video formats can be uploaded to YouTube, and videos can also be uploaded from mobile phones.[10]
YouTube is blocked in many schools because it allows children to search for videos online that would otherwise distract them from their lessons, much like how other social networking sites and game sites are blocked for the same purpose. But at a higher level than schools (and in workplaces), even some governments have blocked YouTube access to their country's public, but their reasons can vary.[source?]
OnDecember 3, 2006, thegovernment of Iran blocked YouTube and several other sites in an attempt to stop films and music from other countries from being seen.[11]
Turkey blocked YouTube onMarch 6 2007 for letting videos that were insulting or discriminating to Turks andAtatürk, who is the founder of modern Turkey, to be shown, because of a "virtual war" between Greeks, Armenians, Kurds and Turks on YouTube, with people from each side posting videos to hurt the other.[12] The video that caused banning allegedTurks and Atatürk to be 'gay'. The video was first mentioned onTurkish CNN and theIstanbul public prosecutor sued YouTube for being mean to Turkishness.[13] The court suspended access to YouTube while waiting for the removal of the video. The ban was strongly criticized. YouTube lawyers sent documentary of removal to court and users could access the website again onMarch 92007.[14]
During the week ofMarch 8, YouTube was blocked in Thailand.[15] Many bloggers (people who have a "diary" online) believed the reason YouTube was blocked was because of a video of the former Prime MinisterThaksin Shinawatra's speech onCNN. However, the government did not confirm or give reasons for the ban. YouTube was accessible fromMarch 10.
On the night ofApril 3, YouTube was again blocked in Thailand.[16] The government said it was because of a video on the site that it said was "insulting" to KingBhumibol Adulyadej.[17] The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology claimed that it would unblock YouTube in a few days, after websites containing references to this video are blocked instead of the entire website.[18] Communications Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said, "When they decide to withdraw the clip, we will withdraw the ban."[19] Soon after this incident the internet technology blog Mashable was banned from Thailand over the reporting of the YouTube clips in question.[20]
Brazilian model lawsuit and banning that came after
YouTube is being sued byBrazilian model and MTV VJ Daniela Cicarelli (better known asRonaldo's ex-fiancée) on the grounds that the site is making available a video footage made by a paparazzi, in which she and her boyfriend are having sex on a Spanish beach. The lawsuit says that YouTube has to be blocked in Brazil until all copies of the video are removed. On Saturday,January 6,2007, a legal injunction ordered that filters be put in place to prevent users in Brazil from going to the website.[21][22]
The effectiveness of the measure has been questioned, since the video is not available only on YouTube, but rather has become anInternet phenomenon. On Tuesday,January 9,2007, the same court overturned their earlier decision, ordering the filters to be taken down, even though the footage was still forbidden, but without technical support for its blockage.[23]
On May 25, 2007 the state-owned company Maroc Telecom blocked all access to YouTube.[24] There were no reasons given why YouTube was blocked. But the guesses are that it might have something to do with some pro-separatist group Polisario clips (Polisario is the Western Sahara independence movement) or because of some videos that criticized King Mohammed VI. This block did not concern the other two private internet-providers, Wana and Meditel. YouTube became accessible again on May 30th, 2007 afterMaroc Telecom unofficially announced that the denied access to the website was only a "technical glitch".[25]
In Australia, some schools, including all secondary schools inVictoria, have YouTube blocked from student access, after fights have been posted on YouTube.
Currently inChina the government has blocked YouTube. For several years it has been unblocked but since the past five years it has been blocked.[26][27][28][29]
According the site's terms of service,[30] users may upload videos only if they have the permission of the copyright holder and of the people in the video.Pornography,defamation,harassment,commercials and videos that encouragecriminal conduct may not be uploaded. The uploader gives YouTube permission to give out and change the uploaded video for any purpose, and they do not have permission anymore when the uploader deletes the video from the site. Users may view videos on the site but are not allowed to save them on their computers.
On June 19, 2007, Google CEOEric Schmidt was in Paris to launch the newlocalization system.[31] The interface of the website is available with localized versions in 90 countries, and a worldwide version.[32]
Country
Language
Headquarters
Launch date
United States (worldwide launch and first global location)
↑"YouTube launches local portal in Senegal", Jubr>^[3] itag 120 is for live streaming and has metadata referring to "Elemental Technologies Live".July 16, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
