YouTube blocks DNC videos for copyright infringement

People wanting to watch Michelle Obama's speech last night couldn't do so through BarackObama.com or YouTube because it was flagged by copyright claims.

Viewers who tried to see the videos were given this message:

"The most likely culprit is YouTube’s pre-emptive content filters, which allow large media companies to upload content they claim to own and automatically block videos that an algorithm decides matches their own," says Wired.

It's not the first time a video has been blocked. Last weekend, a similar algorithim blocked the livestream of the Hugo since fiction award ceremony and an official NASA recording of a Mars landing was blocked by a "rogue DMCA complaint."

The issue has since been resolved. Michelle Obama's full speech can be watched on YouTube here.

Michelle Obama tuning out GOP convention

Michelle Obama is not watching the Republican National Convention week, but told David Letterman Wednesday that American voters should tune in. 

“I, as the wife of the guy they are running against, I tend not to watch it," Obama said on "The Late Show with David Letterman." "But I think it’s important for everyone to watch these conventions."

 

Sarah Palin shafted by Fox?

Sarah Palin says she is "sorry" that Fox News Network cut her scheduled interviews during the broadcaster's Republican National Convention coverage Wednesday.

"I’m sorry Fox cancelled all my scheduled interviews tonight because I sure wanted to take the opportunity on the air to highlight Senator John McCain’s positive contributions to America, to honor him, and to reflect on what a biased media unfairly put him through four years ago tonight," Palin, McCain's 2008 vice-presidential nominee, wrote on Facebook Wednesday.

Fox executive Bill Shine has said there was no ill will behind the decision. Palin was bumped because of the convention's abbreviated schedule, which forced Fox to rejig its plans.

Indeed, Palin, who has served as a paid Fox commentator since 2010, appeared on air earlier this week while campaigning in Arizona for congressional candidate Kirk Adams.

 

 

Modern Family: Ann Romney's show of choice

Entertainment Tonight reported yesterday that Modern Family, the ABC mockumentary sitcom featuring a gay couple who adopt a child, is Ann Romney's can't-miss TV show each week.

The show's executive producer Steve Levitan then Tweeted a reminder that two of the show's characters are, indeed, gay and Ann's husband, the Republican presidential nominee, does not support same-sex marriage. 

Be wary, of course, of reading too far into Romney's pronouncement. Pop culture hardly discriminates and, well, Modern Family is just a really popular show.