NBC and News Corp. prime YouTube, Google stuffer

YouTube has a fight on its hands with News Corp. and NBC today announcing plans to create a premium online video distribution site well-backed by major media players.

The yet-unnamed service has initial content suppliers, MSN, Yahoo!, Time Warner/AOL and Myspace on its side of the ring, all itching for a piece of the pie currently dominated by the 'Tube. Each site will have its own embedded player displaying the video content. Shows such as "Heroes," "House," "24" and movies such as "Borat" and "Little Miss Sunshine" will be featured on the service when it rolls out. And users will be able to upload their own videos as well

The service is set to debut this summer with initial advertisers Cadbury Schweppes, Cisco, Esurance, Intel and General Motors paying the bills.

The new video network may be a titillating prospect to media gloms eager to get content online but wary of YouTube's reputation of hosting unlicensed clips. The 'Tube was recently sued by Viacom for $1bn in damages over copyright infringement claims.

The fresh service would also mark an attempt by some very large, very powerful companies to wrestle online content control away from YouTube owner Google. (Hence the appearance of Yahoo!, Microsoft and others.)

The new site may face an uphill battle, however, to steal the hearts and minds of the immense YouTube clan. Market researcher Hitwise lists the service as the 12th most trafficked site on the internet.

“Anyone who believes in the value of ubiquitous distribution will find this announcement incredibly exciting,” said Jeff Zucker, CEO of NBC Universal. “This venture supercharges our distribution of protected, quality content to fans everywhere. Consumers get a hugely attractive aggregation of a wide range of content, and marketers get a novel way to connect with a large and highly engaged audience.”

A transitional management team for the new LA and New York-based company will be lead by NBCU's chief digital officer George Kliavkoff for the launch. The site's permanent management team will be announced shortly
c by the register

German Gmail blocker wouldn't sell up for millions

The German businessman behind trade mark cases that could wreck Google's email branding across Europe would refuse millions of dollars for the G-Mail trade mark he owns, according to his lawyer. The man has already turned down a Google offer of $250,000.
Daniel Giersch is a venture capitalist who also owns and runs a physical and electronic postal service in Germany called G-Mail. In an exclusive interview with weekly technology law podcast OUT-LAW Radio his trade mark lawyer Sebastian Eble said that money would not be able to buy Giersch's compliance with Google's wishes.

"The German lawyers of Google contacted me and respectively Daniel in order to ask what was his aim and if he was ready to sell his trade mark for $250,000," said Eble. "But Daniel made it clear from the beginning that he had never had the goal to sell his trade mark."

"Daniel is a millionaire so you know, €250,000 is for Daniel not a big amount of money and on your other hand his aim or his goal is to do big business with this G-mail trademark. G-mail is a little bit like Daniel’s baby so it was never a question for him to sell his trade mark," said Elbe. "Even if they would, I do not know, offer him millions I do not think that Daniel would sell it because it is like his little baby, Giersch-mail, so it is named G-mail."

Giersch won a preliminary injunction then a full injunction to stop Google calling its web based email service Gmail in Germany, making it the only country apart from the UK in which the service is not called Gmail. A similar case in the UK has forced Google into branding the service Google Mail here.

The full injunction is being appealed by Google, which announced plans to launch its service in 2004. Giersch, though, registered his trade mark long before that.
"He applied for this trade mark in the year 2000 and the trade mark seeks protection for postal service on the one hand but also email services and telecommunications," said Elbe. "He then started using his trademark G-mail for email services and telecommunications in the year 2003."
"I think in November 2004 he heard that Google was starting email service named G-mail in the United States so his lawyers contacted Google, I think, in November or December 2005 but Google had at that time not shown any interest to talking to Daniel," said Eble.

Giersch also has trade marks in G-mail in Norway, Monaco and Switzerland, where he is pursuing action to protect his trade marks.

Copyright © 2007, OUT-LAW.com