Google+ Hangouts Adding YouTube Live Video Viewing

The Hangouts group video chat platform on Google+ now lets video-chatting groups of up to ten people watch live streaming videos together on YouTube. Mashable reports.

The ability to watch recorded YouTube videos together has been possible in Hangouts from the start, but now, YouTube Live product manager Brandon Badger told GigaOM that Google‘s been quietly rolling out live video stream viewing while chatting in Hangouts.

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Game of Thrones [Infographic]

Game of Thrones [Infographic]. Brilliant. via Ryan Block+

Fox Paywall Coming to Online TV Shows

Effective August 15, Fox will require a pay TV subscription to watch shows like Family Guy and Glee on Hulu or Fox's own website within a week of the shows' original air dates.

For now, only Hulu Plus and Dish Network subscribers will be able to jump the paywall, but Fox promises to add authentication for other satellite and cable providers soon.

[via TIME Techland]

BBC iPlayer launches 'international' version

The international version of the BBC iPlayer has landed - at least if you live in Europe and own an iPad, writes stuff.

Fans of British TV in continental Europe can access a large library of content for the first time through the BBC's iPlayer app for Apple's iPad.

The 11 launch countries are Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Republic of Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

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Landmark net piracy case to have major UK web impact

A High Court judge has ruled that BT must block access to a website which provides links to pirated movies. The BBC reports.

Newzbin 2 is a members-only site which aggregates a large amount of the illegally copied material found on Usenet discussion forums.

The landmark case is the first time that an ISP has been ordered to block access to such a site.

It paves the way for other sites to be blocked as part of a major crackdown on piracy.

Read more on Justice Arnold's ruling.

Related: - Landmark net piracy case to have major UK web impact

Online video: How do you watch?

According to a new report from Nielsen, about half of Netflix users are watching through their Wii, Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, showing that the service has a firm hold among gamers. The Washington Post reports.

The study also confirmed some things that you might expect: Netflix users are most likely to watch a movie on their TVs, while Hulu users tend to watch television shows on their computers. Even those who do watch Hulu on the big screen do so by hooking up their computer to the TV.

Read full article and Nielsen report.

Wal-Mart offers video streaming on website

The world's largest retailer on Tuesday started streaming many movies the same day they come out on DVD, in a second bid for a share of popular movie rental and streaming website Netflix Inc.'s business and just two weeks after Netflix announced new price increases.

[via AP]

Fox restricts free online access to its shows

Beginning Aug. 15, Fox is restricting free online access to "Glee," "The Simpsons" and other popular shows, becoming the first broadcast network to impose limits on watching new television episodes on websites such as Hulu.

Previously such popular prime-time shows from Fox and other networks have been available online the day after they aired for free, with commercials.

[via The Los Angeles Times]

The Wired City -- An Internet Television Network

Kickstarter project The Wired City is an Internet television network that enables the audience to watch and interact with each other (chat-video, text and audio).

[via Jason Calacanis+]

Warning: Oslo Bombing Video Is a Facebook Scam

From Mashable: Watch out for a bogus post on Facebook that claims to link you to a video from an Oslo security camera, showing the detonation of a car bomb near a Norwegian government building in which at least 10 people were killed.

So if you see the following message:

“[Video] OSLO Security Camera Captures Blast!”

Don’t click on it, delete it from your Facebook feed, and report it to Facebook security. Help Net Security says the scam is infecting one user per second.

Study Saying Piracy Actually Helps Sell Movies Suppressed?

According to TIME Techland, a study on the effects of movie piracy sites on their users and the industry at large has been reportedly been locked away "in the poison cupboard" because it suggested that conventional wisdom had it all wrong—pirates actually ended up spending more money on movie tickets, DVDs and the like than other people.

The study was apparently carried out by Germany's "Society for Consumer Research," and it found that people who view pirated material tended to do so as extended previews before going on to pay money for the full version.

Read more. Image from ECommerce Times.

SnappyTV wins best social TV idea

Out of 10 companies that pitched the crowd at the Social TV Summit — with just two-minute demos — SnappyTV won the award for the best social TV idea. Lost Remote explains why.

While people love to share their reactions while watching live TV, “what’s missing from that conversation is the video,” explains CEO Mike Folgner.

Typically, video clips show up on the web well after the broadcast, which offers “very little benefit for the content ecosystem,” he says. So SnappyTV allows viewers to “snap” and share short video highlights from TV nearly instantaneously, capitalizing on the immediate social conversation. On Twitter, you share a link. On Facebook, you’ll share an embedded video player of the clip.

Read full article.

Pirate chasing firm back in business

ACS:Law, the controversial law firm that tried to get money from people by accusing them of illegal file-sharing, appears to be back in business. The BBC reports.

... ACS:Law has enjoyed something of a chequered history, and has been accused of taking advantage of tough new laws on piracy in order to make money.

Sole proprietor Andrew Crossley teamed up with companies DigiProtect and MediaCAT, which purported to represent copyright owners.

Together they sent letters to around 10,000 people in the UK, alleging that the IP addresses of their computers had been linked to illegal file sharing.

Individuals were given the option of paying £500 or facing court action.

Read full article.

Caption Technology Opens Up World of YouTube Japan

YouTube launched the Japanese version of automatic captions last week, becoming the only language in which the software is available outside English. It was first released to select U.S. users in November of 2009 and made available to the wider public the following March. Auto-captions have since been generated on nearly 40 million videos, according to YouTube.

When these auto-captions are combined with our auto-translate feature, you’ll be able to generate subtitles into more than 50 languages.

Read full article in The Wall Street Journal.

Amazon To Offer Streaming of Some CBS TV Shows

Bolstering its video streaming service, Amazon announced Wednesday a deal to add 2,000 episodes of CBS programming to its library. [via Mashable]

Under the agreement, Amazon Prime customers will be able to watch full seasons of 18 CBS shows, including The Tudors, Numb3rs, Medium, Frasier, Cheers and the complete Star Trek franchise.

Dozens of CBS shows will also be available for Amazon Instant Video customers. With the new addition, Amazon Prime will now offer 8,000 movies and TV shows.

Read more.

Optus Enables Facility to Record TV Shows from a Smartphone

According to Cellular News, Australian mobile network, Optus has launched a service that enables its customers to schedule, record and playback free-to-air television from any compatible 3G mobile device or personal computer.

With Optus TV Now, Optus customers can record TV programmes using their mobile phone and then play it back on their mobile or PC at a time that's more convenient to them. The service is available across all 15 free-to-air channels.

Read full article.

Hangouts can turn broadcasts into a two-way medium

Indie pop singer Daria Musk spent more than six hours in a Google+ Hangouts session Saturday night, playing with a few fellow musicians in a recording studio somewhere in Connecticut and having people from all over the world listen in and cheer her on.

However, the first ever live concert conducted in Google’s new group video chat service had one major constraint: Only ten people could join Musk’s Hangout at a time; others were told to try again later.

[via GigaOM]

Yet another report: Internet disconnections a disproportionate penalty

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), with its 56 member countries made up of 1 billion people, is the “world's largest regional security organization.” And it really doesn't like Internet censorship.

A new OSCE report on "Freedom of Expression on the Internet" (PDF) takes a hard line on all things Internet, issuing conclusions at odds with the practices of many of its most powerful member states, including France and the US. Net neutrality? Every country needs it. “Three strikes” laws that and in Internet disconnection? Disproportionate penalties for minor offenses. Internet access? It's a human right.

Read full article.

Your Smartphone Is Listening in While You Watch TV

You're sitting on the couch with the TV on and phone in hand. As a commercial starts, a smartphone app hears what you're watching. AdAge reports.

It then serves up links, coupons or music downloads corresponding to what it hears on the tube through smartphone microphones. So if you tend to impulse buy, the next time you're watching one of those late-night infomercials you might want to set your phone aside.

In recent months, logos for music-identifying service Shazam have popped up in Procter & Gamble, Honda or American Express commercials. Progressive Insurance, Starbucks and Paramount have also linked to mobile content through Shazam tags in their commercials or web videos. The ads prompt viewers to launch Shazam with the company's logo or a call-out, and if they do, the app brings up links their websites, discounts or other goodies.

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Netflix coming to the UK and Spain next year

Good news for Europeans. According to Variety via Gizmodo, US on-demand internet streaming video provider Netflix is preparing to set up shop in Spain and the UK early next year.

The European expansion would come after the 43-country blitz scheduled to take place by the end of the year across Latin America and the Caribbean.

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TED's Chris Anderson: the man who made YouTube clever

With his TED Talks series, the former magazine mogul Chris Anderson has racked up 500 million web video views for speeches by academics and technological experts. But that, he says, is only the start of an educational revolution. The Guardian reports.

Is TED a new religion?" asked someone on the floor. "I can answer that," he said quickly. "Absolutely not."

TED has brought back the concept of the sermon – 18-minute talks delivered by absolute experts in their fields. Five years ago, when YouTube started out, it was assumed to be where you went to look at cats that looked like Hitler, or people falling off skateboards, but TED Talks, with its short disquisitions on everything from neuroscience to creativity, has just celebrated 500m views on the site.

By the end of next year, that figure is expected to reach a billion. In the month when the News of the World folded, Anderson has demonstrated that there is an enormous and still largely untapped appetite for actual news of the actual world.

Read full article.

French copyright cops: we're swamped with "three strikes" complaints

Hadopi, the French agency charged with implementing France's stringent "three strikes" copyright enforcement program, has released new statistics that shed light on the logistical challenges of getting a nation of 65 million people to stop sharing infringing content online. arstechnica reports.

The volume of alleged infringement is even higher than earlier reports suggested. More than 18 million complaints have been submitted so far, and Hadopi hasn't been able to keep up. So far, only 470,000 initial warning e-mails have been sent to French Internet users. Only a small fraction of those—about 20,000—have received second notices, and around 10 French Internet users have received their third "strike" and are now facing possible penalties.

Read full article.

Some Netflix customers threaten to quit over price increases

Netflix's announcement Tuesday of plans to raise prices immediately for new users and soon for existing members has social-media outlets teeming with blowback and thousands of customers threatening to quit the movie rental service.

Backlash to the pricing in the form of "Dear Netflix" postings runs rampant across Twitter and Facebook.

The fuss began when the original $9.99 plan for unlimited monthly DVD rentals and streaming was divided into two plans: $7.99 for streaming and an additional $7.99 for DVD rentals, starting Sept. 1 for existing members.

[via USA Today]

Hulu gets social with Facebook integration

Lost Remote reports that TV streaming service Hulu has rolled out Facebook features that turn the site into a social TV experience. And there’s an incentive to connect your Facebook account: you’ll receive a month of Hulu Plus for free.

Once you connect your account, you can see an activity feed on the home page of what your friends are watching, recommending, favoriting and commenting. If you’re not excited about sharing your viewing history with your friends, you can jump into your privacy settings to make an adjustment.

The coolest social feature is Facebook commenting. While watching a clip, when you comment, Hulu will share the clip beginning a bit before the time you commented — with a timestamp — to your Facebook wall. It also allows you to flag the comment as a spoiler.

Read full article

Netflix changing TV viewing habits

Television viewing habits are changing rapidly in North America where people are flocking to video and game streaming services such as Netflix, which is now estimated to account for about a quarter of all US internet traffic. stuff reports.

Netflix has signed up more than 23 million members, who get unlimited access to a wide range of movies and shows streamed to computers and broadband-connected televisions for a flat rate of US$7.99 a month.

Read full article.

Pippa Middleton's derriere doppelgänger gets YouTube series

It seems there is no looking back for Pippa Middleton and her celebrated derriere, writes the Daily Mail.

Artist and satirical photographer Alison Jackson is planning a series of YouTube-style episodes dedicated to achieving a bottom as perfectly sculpted as Pippa’s.

Gabriella Parris, left, turns out to be the perfect double for Pippa's bottom.

The six ways you can appeal new copyright measures

AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and other major ISPs have agreed to take action against subscribers after repeated allegations of copyright infringement. You can appeal, but only for six specific reasons. And you can use the "open WiFi" defense only once. arstechnica reports.

Under the new voluntary antipiracy regime agreed to this week by Internet providers, users who receive a first "alert" regarding copyright infringement on their account won't be able to challenge that alert.

Nor can they challenge the second alert, or the third, or the fourth. They can only challenge the alerts when they move from "education" to "mitigation"—after the fifth or sixth alert, depending on the Internet provider.

Read full article.

To Slow Piracy, Internet Providers Ready Penalties

Americans who illegally download songs and movies may soon be in for a surprise: They will be warned to stop, and if they don’t, they could find their Internet access slowing to a crawl. The New York Times reports.

After years of negotiations with Hollywood and the music industry, the nation’s top Internet providers have agreed to a systematic approach to identifying customers suspected of digital copyright infringement and then alerting them via e-mail or other means.

The system announced on Thursday involves a series of six warnings that an Internet provider can send to a customer whom the media companies have identified as a possible copyright infringer.

The warnings escalate from simple e-mail notifications to, at levels 5 and 6, a set of “mitigation measures,” like reduced connection speeds or a block on Web browsing. As the alerts progress, a customer must acknowledge that he understands the notice. Customers will also have the opportunity to contest the complaint.

Read full article.

Related: - The six ways you can appeal new copyright "mitigation measures"

Canceled Soaps find afterlife on the Internet

Two daytime soap operas slated for cancellation have found an afterlife on the Internet, as more companies splash out big dollars for original programming on the Web. The WSJ Speakeasy reports.

Disney/ABC said Thursday that it has licensed “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” to production company Prospect Park.

Prospect Park plans to distribute the decades-old shows, which ABC is taking off the air in coming months, over the Web and Internet-connected televisions.

The deal gives Prospect Park exclusive rights to the two shows for more than a decade, and pays Disney/ABC millions of dollars a year in royalties for as long as the shows are produced, according to people familiar with the terms.

Read full article.

Top ISPs agree to become copyright cops

Some of the top ISPs, including Comcast, Cablevision, Verizon, and Time Warner Cable, have officially agreed to step up efforts to protect the rights of copyright owners. CNet reports.

Leaders from the movie, television, music and Internet service provider communities today announced a landmark agreement on a common framework for 'Copyright Alerts,'" the parties said today in a statement.

Copyright Alerts "will educate and notify Internet subscribers when their Internet service accounts possibly are being misused for online content theft. This voluntary landmark collaboration will educate subscribers about content theft on their Internet accounts, benefiting consumers and copyright holders alike."

Read more.