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YouTube and other video-sharing sites may have to be licensed like TV if a European Commission proposal isn't stopped. Even worse: video bloggers posting clips to their personal sites may have to seek a license to operate a "television-like service". The Commission wants video posted on the web to conform to the same standards as television, but thankfully the UK government is opposing the move.
The proposal is called the Television Without Frontiers directive, and the EU says the aim is to set standards when it comes to advertising, hate speech and the "protection of children", a line that we more commonly hear from US politicians. But in a report from the TimesOnline yesterday, government ministers argue that British law already covers the incitement of hatred and harming children. The definition of online broadcasting in the UK covers movies, documentaries, drama, sports events and other professionally produced media, they say, but they don't want to extend that to YouTube, MySpace Video and smaller players like Revver, Metacafe and Grouper. They're even more strongly opposed to treating video bloggers like TV broadcasters. The reasoning is pretty simple: the Brits think that forcing video-sharing sites to seek licensing would prevent UK entrepreneurs from building the next YouTube or MySpace. Ofcom, the independent body that regulates media in the UK, is also opposed to the move on the grounds that it would discourage media businesses from setting up in Europe.