The issue isn’t as cut and dried as just sticking some ads on and hoping for the best, for a variety of different reasons. In fact, the whole business is so complicated, many people just accept they aren’t ever going to make any money out of it.

Copyright Violations

First of all, you have the different advertising methods, with video ads, pre-roll post-roll etc, or text ads on the video page amongst the many choices on offer to you. Then there is the fact that YouTube won’t even advertise on UGC unless it’s checked for copyright violations.

The latter rule, in place to prevent YouTube getting sued… again, means that only an estimated 3% of video on the site can actually have adverts running alongside them.

CPM Rates

If that’s not reason enough to embark on producing more professional videos for the Internet, a new report out from The Diffusion Group, which looks at the CPM (cost-per-thousand) rates, should make it abundantly clear what the future is.

According to TV Week, the report suggests that CPMs for professionally-made long-form online content are $40 today and will reach nearly $46 in 2013. CPMs for short clips are clocking in at about $30 and will rise to over $34 in the same time frame.

Compare that to user-generated video clips, which currently garner CPM rates of around $15 today, a figure likely to only rise to about $17 in 2013. That’s a huge difference, and show that if money is the ambition, professionally made video content is king.

UGC Vs. Professional Productions

The video advertising market is estimated to be at about $590 million today, but that is expected to rise to more than $10 billion by 2013 as advertisers finally switch on to the benefit of the medium, and video sites start monetizing more successfully.

It could even be argued that UGC will fall by the wayside in years to come, as despite accounting for almost half of the video streams we watch, they only make about 4% of the revenue on offer. Professional video soaks up the other 96%.

Expect to see sites such as YouTube do more deals like the Lionsgate one. This could in turn mean Hollywood comes crawling back to the sites, as the movie and TV studios suddenly see dollar signs in lighting up the way.

However, that didn’t stop Universal Music from issuing YouTube with a DMCA takedown notice, which alleged that the use of the track by Prince (a Universal artist) infringed on its copyright.

Court Case Followed

Lenz refused to just take this issue lying down, and managed to get Universal to retract the takedown notice after claiming the use of the song was fair use, and not at all detrimental to the artist’s rights.

Not content with this, she then got in touch with the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) and took Universal to court for issuing the notice in the first place.

Foibles Of Fair Use Law

Some saw this as an unnecessary step, totally over the top, while others thought it was a brilliant stand against a corporation overstepping its copyright-maintaining powers.

The two sides have been facing each other in court in front of Judge Jeremy Fogel where the issues and foibles of the current fair use laws have been being debated.

False Claim?

Universal followed the rules in identifying copyrighted material, and then issuing a takedown notice with the onus on the uploader to prove otherwise, but the DMCA also tried to discourage false claims of copyright infringement by asking the holders to take into account the fair use rules.

In which case, the bigger issue in this case seems to be whether Universal followed those guidelines, or whether it sent a takedown notice knowing in advance that the video in question was highly likely to be deemed fair use. Which would be misuse of the DMCA.

Fair Use First

According to Ars Technica, Universal Music claims that it is not reasonable for the copyright holder to take fair use into consideration before sending a takedown notice, and it looks as though the judge agrees.

The music label’s lawyer stated:

“Plaintiff’s exclusive reliance on the affirmative defense of fair use necessarily establishes that Universal’s statement that her use was infringing was true,”

“For there to be a ‘fair use,’ there first must be an infringing use. Plaintiff’s arguments that her use could be a ‘fair use’ without infringing, or that Universal must be deemed to have impliedly represented that her use was not ‘fair,’ are contrary to the Copyright Act and controlling case law.”

While Universal’s might be legally correct, it does show a heavy-handed approach to the idea of fair use, and takedown notices - not to mention the awful complex state of copyright law. This video was clearly fair use, and even the toddler himself would have been able to determine that before any takedown notice was dispatched.

With the release of the iPhone, and smart phones with similar Internet access, and multimedia interactivity, mobile video is sure to become a fast growing sector, with more people wanting the ability to watch television on the move.

Dual Uses

My-IPTV Anywhere Mobile 2.0 Deluxe is a product with dual uses. Using it, you are able to record cable TV programmes, and then watch them from a PC or mobile device anywhere in the world.

All you need for this is a Windows-based PDA device, or mobile phone with Internet access. You can then watch the recorded programmes in compressed MPEG-4 H.264 format, ensuring a television quality broadcast.

Mobile TV Operation

This product also allows to change channels and search for new channels from outside of your home, and anywhere in the world. You can also pause and rewind live TV, and schedule and record TV programmes.

This is all accessible via an intuitive Internet based TV programming tool so that even the less tech-minded people out there will be able to operate and utilise the service successfully.

Perfect For People On A Budget

You have to register for the maker, Honestech’s online membership, but doing so is free, and enables you to access the full range of hassle-free services, including peer to peer television viewing.

At just $79.99 on Amazon, My-IPTV Anywhere Mobile 2.0 Deluxe is perfect for people on a budget, who still want to be able to have access to mobile video.

[Buy ‘My-IPTV Anywhere Mobile 2.0 Deluxe’ On Amazon]

It seems peer to peer companies in China are making big money, both by way of venture capital investments, and an increasingly profitable amount of advertising dollars.

One current example is Chinese P2P company Xunlei (a P2P download manager - the Chinese equivalent of Vuze) is in talks with US venture capital companies to raise a final round of $100 million. This would add to the $30 million it has already raised, including $5 million from Google.

Advertising & Traffic Upturn

According to iResearch, PPLive and PPStream, two Chinese companies that stream TV using P2P technology, are also seeing an upturn, with advertisers increasingly signing deals with the sites, which goes hand in hand with millions of users watching video streams on the sites.

PPLive is the current market leader in terms of traffic, with 24 million active users in May. PPStream, QQLive, UUSee and Tudou also manage millions of monthly users.

To put it in perspective PPLive has generated ($3.4 million) in revenue in the first half of this year with similar Chinese P2P companies seeing similar success.

These Chinese companies are still successful despite the sites suffering from copyright infringement lawsuits. However, as discussed by NewTeeVee the fines imposed in China are only a fraction compared to the US.

While U.S copyright violation fines are reaching record breaking levels, the aggresive arm of the MPAA and similar organisations are not as mighty in China with Chinese courts often siding against rights holders.

Chinese Censorship a Problem?

Unfortunately Chinese censorship creates the real threat of Chinese web TV companies being closed down by the Chinese authorities. 56.com, dubbed the YouTube of China, was rumoured to have been shut down by Chinese authorities after the site went down last month

It is beleived that the success of the Chinese P2P companies is partly due to a concentration on safe TV content, rather than user-generated content, which keeps the Chinese government happy.

The Likes of the MPAA Pushing P2P Technology Abroad?

In the U.S content rights holders are frequently uneasy about the use of the internet as a medium for their content and are often quicker to jump down the lawsuit route rather than looking at how they can embrace a new technology to serve their own visitors.

While rare, examples of this technology being used successfully by rights holders do exist. The BBC iPlayer in the UK is a great but rare example that this technology can be embraced by traditional TV companies.

While in China emerging P2P companies are flourishing, those in the U.S struggle to find backing from investors, advertisers and content rights holders. Joost is scaling back, Vuze (previously known as Azureus) is getting blocked by ISPs and emerging California based TVUplayer remains unheard of in the business world despite serving peer-to-peer TV to 12 million uses.

The threat of those massive lawsuits and ISP problems is making everyone uneasy about working with P2P companies in the U.S and the rights holder and TV networks are reluctant to get on board.

China to Drive a P2P Revolution?

If the trend continues it could be argued that China will lead the way for a P2P revolution where the Chinese will be able to get the TV content they want the way they want it, without being subject to unfair usage restrictions and heavy advertising.

In the meantime uneasy rights holders will continue to fight a losing battle and reign in lawsuits on serious U.S based P2P and Internet TV companies and refuse to adopt the emerging technology themselves while piracy flourishes like never before.

Hopefully the Chinese will be able to prove that this method of TV distribution is viable, is profitable and is in the interest of both the rights holders and consumers.

After Schmidt first spoke about the problems Google is experiencing in making YouTube the money-making giant it should be, There were calls to just kill the site off, as it could forever be a revenue black hole.

More Than Pre & Post-Roll Ads

Just this month, we’ve seen pre-roll and post-roll adverts announced as being on their way to YouTube. Then there was discussion about possibly pre-vetting all videos in an effort to gain advertisers.

Now, Schmidt has spoken to CNET about future plans. In a conference call after Google reported disappointing second-quarter earnings, he told them:

“There will be new monetization forms. That is what we are seeking. That is the holy grail. When we find it, it (monetization) is likely to be very large because of the scope and scale of YouTube.”

“We’re working on revenue scenarios and newer product. I personally do not believe the perfect (YouTube) ad has been invented.”

The Perfect Fit

Schmidt also said that the company is most pleased with in-video ads that are embedded across the bottom of the video, but that there are going to be many more trials in an effort to find the perfect fit.

I’m not sure whether Google will ever find the perfect fit for YouTube, but there could be some happy compromises. What is clear is that Google won’t rest until YouTube actually starts paying back some of the $1.65 billion it paid for the video-sharing site.

Solutions Research Group recently conducted a study in to the state of Hulu, as reported by TVWeek. It shows the demographic who are watching, and the customer satisfaction ratings.

Struggling To Gain Traction

Most importantly, it seems that despite being heavily promoted, the majority of Americans still don’t know about the Fox/NBC-owned Hulu, with just 15% of the online US population having ever heard of the site.

The average age of a Hulu user is 32, while two-thirds are male. Interestingly, their average income is 22% higher than the US average.

High Satisfaction Rating

Hulu users gave the thumbs up to the main thrust of the site, being able to watch an old episode of a classic TV show, and being able to watch recent episodes they may have missed. They also love that it’s free, naturally.

The only real complaint is that only the most recent episodes of certain shows are available. Personally, my complaint is that Hulu is only available in the US, meaning I can’t even sample the offerings.

However, the idea is new to live online streaming companies, with Stickam the first to go down this route with a new service its calling PayPerLive.

PayPerLive

The service began this week, and will eventually offer users the chance to charge for events broadcast on the Stickam platform. For now, it is in beta testing, with just ten trusted users trialling the offering.

Once live, users will be able to schedule an event for the future, and then sell tickets for it to individual punters. Stickam will take a share of the revenue generated, with the starting rate set at 25%.

A Viable Business Model

This is a great concept, with educational courses, business seminars, and live music and comedy shows potentially being made available on Stickam for a price.

One thing not allowed on the site is any adult content, and an do-it-yourself sex shows will be banned from operating. Sex shows are very lucrative in the world of live streaming, but obviously aren’t who Stickam are targeting.

Live streaming video companies such as Stickam, as well as Justin.tv and UStream, are still looking for a viable, and sustainable business model. It’s possible that this could be one successful element of that much-needed revenue model.

The service comes as part of the 9.4 software update, and means that all YouTube videos will now be viewable on TiVo in H.264. This is the first time TiVo has rendered content in anything other than MPEG-2.

Streaming YouTube On TiVo

TiVo owners can now stream all YouTube videos, watch them in full-screen, and fast forward, pause and rewind them in the same way as any other video on your TiVo.

Here is a video demonstration of the service in full, working order, courtesy of Dave Zatz. It shows a very successful marriage of the TiVo interface with all YouTube content.

Video Demonstration

At the moment, account information isn’t part of the deal, so you still need a PC to rate and save favourites. Interestingly, there are no display ads visible on TiVo YouTube, but if the rumoured pre-roll adverts make an appearance, they would show up.

YouTube Does Deals

This is a clever move, both on the part of YouTube and TiVo. YouTube benefits from having its content accessible by more than just computer, while TiVo continues to build more content partnerships.

TiVo isn’t the first DVR to partner with YouTube though, and in that respect, it is playing catch-up. According to NewTeeVee, has already done deals with Apple TV, HP MediaSmart Connect, Sony Bravia and Panasonic TV sets, and Verismo.

DVR’s are becoming increasingly important in the US, and usually sit side by side with a cable or satellite television subscription. Deals such as these are likely to make them even more appealing to mainstream consumers.

The service, which has been launched today to a number of selected customers, but will be fully launched later in the summer, with all US Amazon.com customers able to use the service.

Masses Of Content

40,000 movies, and episodes of television shows will be instantly accessible, with most movie studios, and television networks making their content available, with the exception of Disney, and ABC, who are close to Apple, the company behind market leader iTunes.

Easy Streaming

However, Amazon Video On Demand will be different from Apple iTunes, as well as other competitors, as well as the original incarnation of Amazon’s video store, Amazon Unbox, by allowing customers to stream content, rather than download to their hard drive.

No special equipment will be needed, and nothing will have to be downloaded. Instead, the service should be available on PCs and Macs, and allow every Amazon customer the opportunity to purchase content.

Bill Carr, Amazon’s vice president for digital media told the New York Times:

“For the first time, this is drop dead simple. Our goal is to create an immersive experience where people can’t help but get caught up in how exciting it is to simply watch a movie right from Amazon.com with a click of the button.”

Side-Stepping DRM Issues

As soon as customers click on a title on the new video store, the first two minutes will automatically play. This is obviously an effort to entice browsing visitors to purchase content.

Streaming rather than downloading allows Amazon to sidestep the obvious worries about DRM. Further helping this will be the fact that each video will be stored in Your Video Library. This will allow purchased content to be watched at any time, and from any computer through Amazon.

Sony Bravia Deal

Amazon has also inked a deal with Sony, that sees the new online video store accessible through the Sony Bravia Internet Video link. New Bravia TVs are due to have the system built-in, meaning the current expense of having it will disappear.

This seems to be just the first deal of many, with Amazon keen to pursue similar deals with other makers of TVs and Internet devices.

The Amazon Video On Demand service is a big deal, as it is another step towards the Web becoming the main distribution method for TV and movies. I wonder if Apple has anything up its sleeve to counter with?

But most of the attention has been on webcams designed for use with PCs and laptops, but not for Apple Macs. Now it’s time to redress the balance.

The Ecamm Network iMage USB Webcam for Mac and Windows, does, by definition of its title, work on both Macs and Windows-based PCs, but by design and usability, it definitely owes more to the Apple products.

Horrible Design

However, while all of the variations of the Apple Mac, and most other Apple products, are nicely designed, with smooth lines, and a refreshingly simple layout, the iMage looks horrible.

This webcam is tiny, being just 2 inches wide, and is also lightweight, being designed to be ultra-portable. The iMage mounts on to the screens of the PowerBook and iBook with a magnetic mount.

No Drivers

The beauty of this webcam, designed to work on both Mac OS X (10.4.3 or higher) and Windows systems, is it’s driverless technology, with no driver software needed to get the camera working on your machine.

By plugging it in to your Mac’s USB 2.0 port, you can start video chatting on Skype, MSN Messenger, AIM or any of the other options for communicating with friends and family in real-time.

Video Blogging Career

Or, you could start a new career as a video blogger, which has proved profitable for A-List bloggers such as Natali Del Conte. Whatever you choose to do with your new purchase, the iMage will do the job, despite being one of the ugliest webcams on the market.

[Buy the ‘Ecamm Network iMage USB Webcam’ On Amazon]