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YouTube Lifts Time Limit for Videos

bits.blogs.nytimes.com

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Re: YouTube Lifts Time Limit for Videos

#11

Post by hugh3 »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #8
sandipc wrote: post #4

key word left out of HN title: "some"

Actually, I feel the title is accurate. Some restrictions are always assumed -- for example, you need an internet connection to upload to Youtube. This restriction prevents many more people from uploading than the actual restrictions mentioned in the article. For those who didn't read the article, an account with a good history is required for uploading. Yes, not everybody has one of those, but anybody with an intern…

Not so much. My first thought, after all, was "Hooray, now I can watch Top Gear and Doctor Who episodes which aren't split into six different sections!" I don't really want to watch 60-minute videos of someone's cat.

(Incidentally, before anyone gets on my arse about copyright violation which I usually disapprove of, I feel justified in pirating Top Gear and Doctor Who since they're shown for free on the (Australian) ABC or SBS. I pay Australian taxes despite not being resident there, so I damn well should be able to watch what I've already paid for.)

Re: YouTube Lifts Time Limit for Videos

#13

Post by citricsquid »

"Congratulations! Your account is now enabled for uploads longer than 15 minutes. Click the Upload button below to select a video."

I guess I finally have a reason to celebrate 560,016 total upload views :-) I wonder what I should upload first! Maybe I can do a 24 hour silent video and call it modern art.

Re: YouTube Lifts Time Limit for Videos

#14

Post by keiferski »

ams6110 wrote: post #9
keiferski wrote: post #3

I wonder if this has anything to do with server resources; IE is 1 30-minute video less intensive and take up less space than 3 10-minute videos? (Considering that most long videos are just cut into parts.) If so, I'd imagine it would have an impact, considering the sheer size of YouTube's userbase.

Not really. A 30 minute video file might be slightly smaller than three 10 minute video files but the difference would be negligible. What's happened is that YouTube has developed a way to identify infringing content, and profit from it. They can find an "illegal" clip of a TV show or movie, contact the copyright owner, and with their permission leave it on the site but serve up advertising alongside, splitting the r…

Gotcha.

But wouldn't longer movies being in multiple pages/clips serve more advertising? I realize that the clips may not even be uploaded if a time limit is imposed, but I would assume that more clips = more potential ad clicks.

I suppose also that the advances in Content ID (the copyright checking system) may only be effective on longer clips.

All in all, there are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches, and maybe YouTube is just taking the least complicated route.

Re: YouTube Lifts Time Limit for Videos

#15

Post by quanticle »

hugh3 wrote: post #11
bryanlarsen wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, I feel the title is accurate. Some restrictions are always assumed -- for example, you need an internet connection to upload to Youtube. This restriction prevents many more people from uploading than the actual restrictions mentioned in the article. For those who didn't read the article, an account with a good history is required for uploading. Yes, not everybody has one of those, but anybody with an intern…

Not so much. My first thought, after all, was "Hooray, now I can watch Top Gear and Doctor Who episodes which aren't split into six different sections!" I don't really want to watch 60-minute videos of someone's cat. (Incidentally, before anyone gets on my arse about copyright violation which I usually disapprove of, I feel justified in pirating Top Gear and Doctor Who since they're shown for free on the (Australian)…

I don't think you'll get to do that even with the relaxed time limits. The lifting of the time restriction means that YouTube is confident enough in its content detection algorithms that they're no longer relying on arbitrary length limits as a restriction on copyright violations. This means that any unauthorized Top Gear or Dr. Who videos will probably be flagged and taken down within hours of their posting.

Re: YouTube Lifts Time Limit for Videos

#16

Post by sp332 »

citricsquid wrote: post #13

"Congratulations! Your account is now enabled for uploads longer than 15 minutes. Click the Upload button below to select a video." I guess I finally have a reason to celebrate 560,016 total upload views :-) I wonder what I should upload first! Maybe I can do a 24 hour silent video and call it modern art.

You could start with Andy Warhol's Empire. It's 8 hours of the Empire State Building. Yeah, the Empire State Building... for 8 hours :-) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_%281964_film%29

Re: YouTube Lifts Time Limit for Videos

#17

Post by hugh3 »

quanticle wrote: post #15
hugh3 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not so much. My first thought, after all, was "Hooray, now I can watch Top Gear and Doctor Who episodes which aren't split into six different sections!" I don't really want to watch 60-minute videos of someone's cat. (Incidentally, before anyone gets on my arse about copyright violation which I usually disapprove of, I feel justified in pirating Top Gear and Doctor Who since they're shown for free on the (Australian)…

I don't think you'll get to do that even with the relaxed time limits. The lifting of the time restriction means that YouTube is confident enough in its content detection algorithms that they're no longer relying on arbitrary length limits as a restriction on copyright violations. This means that any unauthorized Top Gear or Dr. Who videos will probably be flagged and taken down within hours of their posting.

Exactly, that's what I was saying. The only reason I'd want longer videos is so I can watch stuff which I legally can't, so the fact that they're allowing it now is not a great source of excitement to me.

Re: YouTube Lifts Time Limit for Videos

#19

Post by zach »

But the big question is, can uploaders stitch together all those existing "1/9," "2/9" etc. videos so we can put that whole era behind us?

So was the original pre-June 11-minute limit a product of the MPEG LA rules where videos "12 minutes in length" (used to) have special rules and royalties? Or was that coincidental?

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