After saw a clip of 'Fitna' and other related videos like 'Tibet news' in YouTube, somehow, my view is that the deal highlights the importance of social networks and community - freedom of speech. It also brings out the coming age of video on the Internet, well, not that obvious in China since there are a lot of IPTV channels locally. As I have often said in the past, there is an opportunity for the next YouTube - or Google - to come from emerging markets like in China. Instead of looking at what companies in the developed markets are doing, the focus needs to be on the needs of the large user base in the domestic markets. If there is one key takeaway for entrepreneurs from the YouTube-Google deal - it's a great example of how and why a focused startup can compete with the big guys. Google not only had a video product that was a competitor, they started it before YouTube existed. Then YouTube came along and kicked their butt into paying through the nose for them. One game is over, new ones are ready to begin.
In China itself, apart from the fact that the deal needs to close, Kai-Fu Lee and the team over at Google China are wise enough in the ways of the Middle Kingdom to know that YouTube in the form that it operates in the U.S. would not fly with the Chinese authorities. A website that plays videos but is not a licensed broadcaster? That's a no-go: we know that from the way the IPTV trials are being handled. A foreign website? Playing foreign videos? Or worse, self-produced videos from local Chinese? Even worse, owned by a foreign company with huge resources?...China is not the only place Google is likely to face challenges as it makes plans to take YouTube global. In Singapore and in other countries where Google does business, there will be authorities who take issue with the concept of a video sharing site, and Google will face a choice: don't launch YouTube at all, or launch a localized version that operates in accordance with local laws and sensibilities. I'm betting on the YouTube Local approach, especially in non-English-speaking territories.
Next question: China Government Policies vs Freedom of Speech?
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