Turkey lifts two-year ban on YouTube

Turkey has lifted its ban on YouTube, two years after it blocked access to the website because of videos deemed insulting to the country's founder. The BBC reports.

Transport Minister Binali Yildirim, who is in charge of internet issues, said the government had been in contact with Google, which owns YouTube.

Mr Yildirim said there was no longer any reason to ban the website, because the offending videos had been removed.

Read full article.

SideReel Now Available through Google TV

SideReel, the largest independent TV destination on the web with more than 12 million monthly unique users, today released SideReel for Google TV - a version of the SideReel website optimized for viewing through Google TV.

Press release

Movie-rental choices keep streaming in

The Chicago Tribune looks at the many new ways consumers are watching movies.

Today, movie watchers are using video-subscription services, such as Netflix; vending-machine movies, such as Redbox; and on-demand movies from their TV subscriptions. And, increasingly, consumers are watching Hollywood productions on their computers or streaming online movies to their TVs with help from a variety of set-top boxes. Some are even watching movies on the go with hand-held devices and laptops as they commute to work or travel for business and pleasure.

Behind the scenes in the movie industry, a number of players, including movie studios, premium cable channels and movie-delivery companies, are scrambling to create partnerships, carve niches and preserve profits.

Read full article.

Google Sweeps Google TV Under The YouTube Rug

Google has quietly moved its Google TV project under the YouTube umbrella, according to The San Francisco Chronicle via Business Insider.

What's unknown: If Google's move is a sign that it's already giving up on Google TV -- the Chronicle cites early disappointment with the service -- or if it's just a side effect of some of Google's recent executive deck-shuffling.

Read more here and here.

Previously: - Networks Block Web Programs From Being Viewed on GoogleTV

LimeWire file-sharing service shut down in USA

An injunction issued by the US district court in New York has effectively shut down LimeWire, one of the internet's biggest file-sharing sites.

It ends four years of wrangling between the privately-owned Lime Group and the RIAA.

Read full article in the BBC.

CBS’s Showtime Goes Online for Pay-TV Subscribers

Showtime Networks said it has started Showtime Anytime, a broadband video and streaming service that will be free to subscribers. Business Week reports.

The service gives viewers the flexibility to watch more than 400 hours of programming wherever they are, the New York- based cable network said today in a statement.

Read full article.

French three strikes agency getting 25,000 complaints a day

According to Billboard.biz, French labels are sending 25,000 complaints a day to Hadopi, the agency enforcing that country's "three strikes" law. arstechnica reports.

The figure comes from David El Sayegh, the head of France's music label trade association, who insists that he doesn't know how many warnings have gone out as a consequence of the stream of complaints. "It is too early," Sayegh told Billboard, but also says that he expects to have an assessment of the impact Hadopi is having on digital sales by early next year.

Read full article.

Illegal online sports streaming of matches 'increases'

The number of internet streams showing matches illegally has increased, say some of the UK's biggest sporting bodies, reports the BBC.

In most cases, the services are taken down almost as soon as they are put up.

At least 80,000 illegal streams have been removed in two years, according to internet monitoring company NetResult.

The Department of Business says it's not a criminal offence to watch them but you could be sued in a civil court.

Read full article.

Broadcasters move toward ending free TV shows online

According to News10 WHEC, the days of being able to watch TV shows on the internet for free are fading fast.

Broadcasters have taken a big step toward getting online viewers to pay for shows by blocking access to online programming. And all four networks are in on this one - Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS have cut off free views as part of fee disputes with cable companies. It's a sign the networks are no longer willing to give away shows for free, even if the shows are ad-supported.

It's also suggests the networks feel they can make more money from cable TV providers if they hold back some programming online.

Mr. President, sign my iPad

Spotted on intomobile, President Obama signing Sylvester Cann's iPad.

Facelette Is Chatroulette For FaceTime

An enterprising programmer has already created Facelette, Chatroulette for FaceTime. The big difference? it's no longer anonymous. Gizmodo reports.

Facelette works exactly like Chatroulette—connecting two random users for a video chat adventure—but has one crucial difference: no anonymity. Whatever email address or phone number is linked to your FaceTime account will be displayed for all to see.

Read full Gizmodo article. More on Chatroulette.

R.I.P. Chatroulette: A Sad Tale of Missed Opportunity

Remember pervert infested Chatroulette? It's hard to believe that barely eight months ago the anonymous video chat site had everyone captivated. Venture capitalists clamored to invest, journalists tripped over one another to profile—and now Chatroulette is dying, unused and unloved.

It's not just that people seem to have stopped talking about the voyeuristic social network; they seem to have stopped going to it, as well.

[via Gawker]

Related:

-- Facelette Is Chatroulette For FaceTime

Previously on Chatroulette:

-- Chatroulette threatens perverts with police

-- Chatroulette launches Localroulette and Channelroulette

-- Chatroulette, the perils of video-chatting with strangers

-- An in-depth profile of Chatroulette and its founder in The New Yorker

President Obama's "It Gets Better" video

Spotted on boingboing, President Obama's "It Gets Better" video.

It gets better: but not so much better that you can, say, join the U.S. military without having to pretend you're not who you are, and forego the legal protections straight enlistees enjoy. "I support your differences! Up to a point." That's the message, loud and clear.

Related videos and links.

Networks Block Web Programs From Being Viewed on Google TV

ABC, CBS and NBC are blocking TV programming on their websites from being viewable on Google Inc.'s new Web-TV service, exposing the rift that remains between the technology giant and some of the media companies it wants to supply content for its new products. The Wall Street Journal reports.

The move marks an escalation in ongoing disputes between Google and some media companies, which are skeptical that Google can provide a business model that would compensate them for potentially cannibalizing existing broadcast businesses.

But the three networks are also not alone in blocking their content. Video site Hulu, whose owners include Disney, NBC Universal and News Corp., also blocks its video from being played through the Google TV interface.

Read full article.

"It Gets Better" video from Google employee

A video contribution to the "It Gets Better" project from employees of Google. Video Link.

Here's the first video by columnist Dan Savag. In reaction to recent teen suicides, Savage and his partner Terry Miller posted a video to YouTube in September, sharing their personal stories of life after high-school and encouraging others to do the same. The project took off, and today has its own website featuring hundreds of touching testimonials to tell gay teens who are currently being bullied that life will eventually get better. [via TED]

[via boingboing]

Related: - The latest YouTube phenomenon: It Gets Better

Update 22/10:

-- President Obama's "It Gets Better" video - Yes, It gets better: but not so much better that you can, say, join the U.S. military without having to pretend you're not who you are, and forego the legal protections straight enlistees enjoy. "I support your differences! Up to a point." That's the message, loud and clear.

-- Secretary Clinton: "Tomorrow Will Be Better" - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers a message to the LGBT community that "Tomorrow Will Be Better," at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., October 19, 2010.

Fox Cuts off Hulu: Good and Bad for Cable Subscribers

The fight over how much Cablevision would pay Fox in retransmission fees escalated to a new level this morning, as news outlets confirmed that Fox had denied Cablevision’s broadband customers access to Hulu and Fox.com. With the move, Fox entered a new low in the war between content providers and pay television companies as they negotiate the fees that programmers charge pay TV providers, and may have created a new wrinkle for regulatory politics.

[via GigaOM]

Steve Jobs as a "Guignols de l'info" puppet on French tv show

Steve Jobs made an appearance as a puppet on French satirical show broadcast on Canal+. You can watch (in French) on YouTube.

Bloomberg Game Changers Steve Jobs documentary is online

Last night, Bloomberg TV presented an episode of the Bloomberg Game Changers documentary series highlighting the life and career of Steve Jobs. The show included interviews with Jobs' friends, former colleagues, and business associates, and detailed his styles of leadership, management, and creative process.

The show is now available for viewing online, or you can watch it tonight (October 15) at 9 PM and 11 PM EDT on Bloomberg TV. Selected highlights from the show are also available on YouTube. TUWA has a list of the video links for:

-- Bloomberg Game Changers - Intro

-- Bloomberg Game Changers - John Scully Interview

-- Bloomberg Game Changers - Jobs returns to Apple

-- Bloomberg Game Changers - The genius of the iPod & iTunes

Some favorite quotes:

He's one of the most creative and daring CEOs.

It's an incredible talent he is in getting people to hear what he says and getting excited about it.

A brilliant visionary

Steve came back again and again in what I think is the biggest turnaround in corporate America.

Mere mortals trying to understand what is going on his brain would be like explaining to fish how to fly.

So influential, yet so secretive.

Unrelated to Bloomberg TV, but a personal favorite that you can watch on YouTube: Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech to the graduates of Stanford University in 2005, giving insight into a very private Steve Jobs and one of the most inspiring speeches ever.

TV's Alternate Universe

As the media landscape changes and viewers flock to shows they like wherever they air, series on basic cable are still a junior circuit compared with the networks, but their universe keeps expanding, attracting better talent and growing in vibrancy. The Wall Street Journal reports.

Once the province of reruns and sports, basic-cable networks will spend an estimated $23 billion on 1,462 original programs (including reality shows and specials), compared with $14 billion on 863 shows in 2005, research firm SNL Kagan reports.

Many of these shows were rejected by the networks, often because they weren't broad-based enough to appeal to more than a niche audience. Now cable, with its narrower demographics, is trying to turn this to its advantage.

Read full article. Photo illustration by Ian Keltie; Everett Collection (8); TNT (Hutton)

Europeans Cutting the Cord; Will Americans Follow?

Data from the European Union shows that cable subscribers there have already decided to stop paying for cable TV services en masse. NewTeeVee reports.

Strategy Analytics reports that in the European Commission’s latest household communications survey, there’s evidence that consumers there are transitioning away from pay TV services and opting for free alternatives instead.

Read full article. Interesting, no mention of viewers watching TV Online as one of the alternatives.

Watch non-stop coverage of the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners on Sky News

Watch live, non-stop coverage of the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners on Sky News at skynews.com/liveplus.

As of the writing of this post, four of the 33 Chilean miners trapped for more than two months have made an extraordinary journey to safety.

Irish court rules in favour of ISPs in piracy case

The High Court in Ireland has ruled that laws cutting off internet users who have illegally downloaded content cannot be enforced in the country. The BBC reports.

It is a victory for Irish internet service provider UPC which took the legal action against copyright owners, including EMI and Sony.

But it will be a blow to the music and film industry, which wants the strict rules as a deterrent against piracy.

It is likely to have a knock-on effect to similar policies in other countries.

Read full article.

Too much screen time bad for kids' behavior

Children who spend more than two hours in front of a computer or TV screen are more likely to suffer psychological difficulties, regardless of how physically active they are, researchers find.

[via News.com]

SNL. "Damn It My Mom Is on Facebook"

Spotted on the Huffington Post. SNL sketch on a "Damn It My Mom Is on Facebook" filter. Very funny.

New software released to slim actors onscreen

According to The Hollywood Reporter, scientists in Germany have developed software that can make actors appear thinner, fatter, taller or more buff on screen.

The program called MovieReshape could mean an end to actors risking their health by gaining or losing dangerous amounts to suit a role. The software can alter an actor's muscle tone or body shape and can be used on existing video material.

Read full article.

New Scientist suggests an alternate use for the program:

It could also be a cost-saver for advertising companies. Because standards of beauty vary across cultures, it is the norm to shoot several adverts for a single product. With the new software, firms could make one film and tweak the model’s dimensions to suit different countries.

Watch Sally Draper's AP Interview

January Jones and Christina Hendricks get a lot of attention but there's another female cast member on 'Mad Men' who is getting a lot of air time, Kiernan Shipka who plays Sally Draper. Watch Sally being interviewed by the AP.

President to Sign Video Description Bill

The 21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act, a bill that will reinstate mandatory video description, is scheduled for a presidential signing ceremony tomorrow. Television Broadcast reports.

The bill requires wireless providers to make Wi-Fi phones, Web browsers, text messaging and e-mail on smart phones fully accessible to people with vision and/or hearing impairment. It covers emergency broadcast information and allocates $10 million a year for developing assistive technologies.

Read full article and press release.

TV Star Sues -- Medical Prop Almost Killed Me

TMZ reports that Brando Eaton was the victim of a horrifying prop mishap on the set of Miami Medical -- when he played a character who was supposed to be shocked with a cardiac defibrillator ... but the prop medical device wasn't really a prop. It sent real electrical charges through his body.

Eaton claims he had to be rushed to the hospital -- and afterward, needed "treatment and counseling for the anxiety, flashbacks and apprehension from this incident."

Read full article.

Neiman Marcus enables commerce in catalog via iPad app

Upscale retailer Neiman Marcus is letting shoppers jump from the pages of its catalogs directly into its online shopping platform in one tap via a new iPad application.

[Luxury Daily via Mobile Commerce Daily via @Mobilefringe]

Google TV Signs Up Media, Web Firms

Google Inc. on Monday unveiled several new partnerships with media and Web companies, including NBC Universal Inc. and Amazon Inc., to provide content for Google TV, a service designed to expand the Internet giant's franchise into the living room. The Wall Street Journal reports.

Google also said Amazon Video on Demand will give Google TV viewers instant access to more than 75,000 movies and TV shows for a fee. The video-streaming service Netflix Inc. will also be available.

Read full article.