While I understand where you're coming from vis-a-vis the potential for the copyright issue to blow up in Google's face, the worst case scenario for these losses could amount to tens of millions of dollars. This isn't a Google contention; this is a content industry contention: they're almost self-limiting themselves before they get their lawsuits off the ground.

The potential size of a video-monetized advertising market is orders of magnitude larger than that. From a risk-reward perspective, it's clear that Google sees this somewhat differently than you do.

It'll be interesting to see how quickly Google moves to consolidate the relative strengths of YouTube's service and audience with its own search/advertising model. It'll be interesting to see how well Google is able to maintain its focus through the haze of copyright-related litigation.

I suspect a year from now we'll all still be debating the relative merits of this very deal. Forgive me if I don't fully agree with you just yet: I'll watch and wait before rendering final judgment.

Carmi
http://writteninc.blogspot.com

This is why companies eventually fail. Sooner or later, customers will pick up and move their business over to companies that are better at reading and responding to changing consumer wants and needs.

The market wants more HD. If DirecTV can't provide it, someone else will.

More cowbell, anyone?

Microsoft is finally going to admit its longtime dominance of the PC market was unfair to the Apple-ites of the world, and Bill will hand the keys to the OS kingdom over to Steve Jobs as he retires for good. A despondent Steve Ballmer will jump off the top of the Space Needle.

Then Google will eat everyone's lunch by proving once and for all that fat operating systems really do suck.

Can we stop with this OS-war nonsense now?

Leaking. Lubricant. Tubes.

Sounds pretty sexual to me.

Why not just shrink it even more so you can stuff it into your ear? Then you can look just as silly as those flashing blue light Bluetooth-headset-wearing people.

I guess size DOES matter after all.

I never thought texting represented the ideal medium for research of any kind - let alone research that could keep you from contracting a fatal disease from nookie.

Sign of the times, I guess.

And the ideal response to that breaking condom query? U R f----d.