In a move that seems to run contrary to recent trends, YouTube has
actually come to an agreement with a major content provider. The
BBC announced on Friday that it has struck a deal with the popular
video-sharing site that will see the UK based broadcasting company
share in advertising revenue generated by YouTube traffic.
After highly publicized breakdowns in negotiations with CBS and
Viacom, it looks like Google and YouTube have finally managed to
court a suitor into the video-sharing fold, avoiding any potential
copyright snares that might ensue with current BBC content on the
site.
The BBC’s Tim Weber has more on the particulars of the agreement:
“One of the BBC’s two entertainment channels will be a “public
service” proposition, featuring no advertising.”
“It will show clips like trailers and short features that add
value - for example, video diaries of David Tennant showing
viewers around the set of Dr Who or BBC correspondent Clive Myrie
explaining how difficult it is to report from the streets of
Baghdad.”
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Pivotal Systems Ltd (UK) have today released the latest version of their popular directory submission tool, SubmitEaze. The tool is used by webmasters to quickly submit their website details to hundreds of Internet web directories which will increase the traffic to their website and improve their overall search engine rankings.
The new version of SubmitEaze contains a huge array of updates, one of which enables users to sort the directories on Google PageRank or the number of incoming backlinks to each directory, meaning users can prioritize which directories to submit to in order to maximize their efforts. Another new feature allows users to import their own list of directories directly from a spreadsheet, and also create an unlimited number of categories for their custom directories, making it incredibly easy to customize the software to any user’s specific requirements.
Martin Burrow, CEO of Pivotal Systems says “We are always looking for ways to improve our software, and the majority of the new features that have been added in this version have actually been suggested by our users. This latest version of the software enables our users to customize the software for their own specific needs, regardless of what type of website they operate. The new version of SubmitEaze far surpasses anything else that is on the market, and what’s more it is also available at a very reasonable price so that any webmaster can afford to promote their website.”
Users can now also setup multiple link title (anchor text) and description text entries for each website, this means they will get a variety of keywords in the anchor text of the links that point to their website, making their optimization seem more natural and also more effective for search engine optimization. The directory list that comes installed with SubmitEaze has also undergone a major overhaul, and the software now also lists over 1,600 hand-picked directories, listed in three different categories; Free, Paid Inclusion, and Reciprocal Link Inclusion.
Because Pivotal Systems operate a ‘one license for life’ policy, the good news is that anyone who has previously purchased SubmitEaze will receive this (and any future upgrades) free of charge. People wanting to give the new version a try can visit the SubmitEaze website at http://www.submiteaze.com/ where they can download a trial copy. For new users, this latest version retails at $74.95, and with this users can expect to receive the same offer of free regular software and directory updates.
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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has stepped squarely into a fight roiling the Web by agreeing to re-examine the Eolas patent for a browser plug-in, a development likely to bring cheer to Microsoft and software patent foes alike.
The 906 patent, owned by the University of California and licensed exclusively to one-man software company Eolas, describes how a Web browser can use external applications. The patent also earned that school and company a $521 million judgment after a federal jury found that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser infringed on it.
After Microsoft made public planned changes to IE that held the potential to break millions of Web sites, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) last month urged the USPTO to re-examine the so-called 906 patent in light of W3C technologies that it said predated Eolas’ patent.
Specifically, the consortium pointed out early HTML drafts by W3C Director Tim Berners-Lee and W3C staff member Dave Raggett that it said qualified as prior art in the case.
The W3C’s public call came as part of a larger campaign to identify prior art relevant to the Eolas case. Prior art is a similar invention that predates a patent, therefore invalidating it.
The USPTO responded quickly to the W3C’s request, and on Oct. 30 the office initiated an order for re-examination. On Monday that order was docketed to the patent examiner.
“A substantial outcry from a widespread segment of the affected industry has essentially raised a question of patentability with respect to the 906 patent claims,” Stephen Kunin, the USPTO’s deputy commissioner for patent examination policy, wrote in his order for re-examination. “This creates an extraordinary situation for which a director-ordered examination is an appropriate remedy.”
Kunin specifically cited the technologies that the W3C had raised in its request for re-examination.
“A substantial new question of patentability exists with respect to claims 1-3 and 6-8 of the 906 patent in view of prior art acknowledged by the patentee in the 906 patent and the newly cited teachings of Berners-Lee, Raggett I and Raggett II,” Kunin wrote.
The USPTO, University of California, the W3C, Microsoft and Eolas could not immediately be reached for comment.
One person involved in the case hailed the USPTO’s decision, praising the office’s responsiveness to concerns raised by industry and other Web advocates.
“The thing that’s exciting to me is that the (US)PTO sort of made the ruling on the basis of how much interest there is in this issue on the Internet,” said Dale Dougherty, a vice president of online publishing and research at Sebastapol, Calif.-based publisher O’Reilly & Associates, who posted news of the USPTO’s decision on the O’Reilly Web site. “And it seems that they felt they had to respond to it.”
Dougherty testified in the trial on Microsoft’s behalf to the effect that a Web browser called Viola constituted prior art to the 906 patent.
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