Google's YouTube Cracks Down On Almost 30,000 Illegal Videos

The newest kid on Google's block, YouTube.com, has been listening to recent concerns that many of the videos uploaded to the site are in violation of established copyrights.

A few months before Google purchased the video sharing site, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban went on record in claiming that YouTube would eventually be "sued into oblivion" for "breaking the law" by illegally hosting copyrighted material.

A Japanese entertainment company -- The Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) -- recently discovered almost 30,000 TV shows, music videos, and movies posted to YouTube without permission. Once notified, Google's newest partner was quick to take down every single clip. (Source: yahoo.com)

This past February, NBC made a similar request when a piece of Saturday Night Live footage known as "Lazy Sunday" ended up on the site illegally. In that instance too, YouTube wasted no time in removing the video.

Fumiyuki Asakura, a JASRAC official, said that he may ask Google to initiate a pre-screening procedure for YouTube. If enacted, the process could prevent more videos from ending up on the site illegally.

YouTube has stated that it will make use of "audio-signature technology," which can automatically recognize even a low-quality version of a copyrighted clip. The video in question would then have to be removed -- or replaced with a legal version approved by the copyright holder. (Source: yahoo.com)

This step by Google comes at the right time, as certain copyright holders are said to be irritated at having to "police" YouTube. (Source: arstechnica.com)

In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, News Corp., NBC Universal, and Viacom Inc. are already considering legal action against YouTube. Time Warner hasn't joined them -- yet -- but they've made it clear that they're not happy with the video sharing site either. (Source: wsj.com)

Cuban's words could turn out to be prophetic after all.