4 ms·

Perfect example of stacking the deck in your favour. If Google says no, they look like hypocrites who aren't practising what they preach. Very gutsy move Micros

Perfect example of stacking the deck in your favour. If Google says no, they look like hypocrites who aren't practising what they preach. Very gutsy move Microsoft, well played.

myko 13y ago
No, it's actually pretty silly of Microsoft. They're blatantly disregarding YouTube's TOS by allowing users to download videos within the app - I'm just shocked this made it past Microsoft legal.
- OGinparadise 13y ago
  Both Google and Microsoft are loaded so they can afford lawyers. Even if it goes to trial, my guess is that there are no real /seriou$ damages so the downside is very limited. Upside is attracting attention or the public, regulators and maybe giving Google a bad eye.
- cooldeal 13y ago
  I believe the conversation would gone like this: Microsoft Legal: No way! We may get sued and lose! Microsoft Strategy: Okay, I see, how much will we lose? Microsoft Legal: Maybe 2 Billion in damages, maybe 5 Billion with a big B in the worst case. Microsoft Strategy: Okay, Finance Department how much cash do we have? Microsoft Finance: 75B billion cash in our bank account. Microsoft Strategy to Dev Division: Okay, make the YouTube app, oh and by the way stick a download button in there too.
siddboots 13y ago
Surely the only people who care about this sort of story are savvy enough to realize that both parties are being petty.
OGinparadise 13y ago
Microsoft has nothing to lose in this, every mention of this story in the press helps them. They are probably hoping for a lawsuit
- fpgeek 13y ago
  Microsoft has plenty to lose here. Push this too far and they can easily alienate the media partners they need for all sorts of things (like providing content for Windows tablets and Windows Phone).
  - recoiledsnake 13y ago
    Lots of posters report that the Youtube mobile site and phone apps don't show ads so I don't know what the fuss is. Also, if WP allegedly has such low adoption that Google doesnt feel the need to make an app, how much revenue can the WP app hurt? Vimeo and Yahoo mail have WP apps but Youtube and Gmail don't. Go figure.
    - fpgeek 13y ago
      Where did I say that ad-free YouTube was pushing this too far? I think both Microsoft and Google have plenty of ways to sort that out. The download button, on the other hand, is a completely different kettle of fish. If people start using Microsoft's Windows Phone YouTube app to download and distribute YouTube video I think that will have tons of impact, way beyond the existing, lower-profile downloaders, no matter how tiny WP's adoption is.

Perfect example of stacking the deck in your favour. If Google says no, they look like hypocrites who aren't practising what they preach. Very gutsy move Microsoft, well played.

myko 13y ago

No, it's actually pretty silly of Microsoft. They're blatantly disregarding YouTube's TOS by allowing users to download videos within the app - I'm just shocked this made it past Microsoft legal.

OGinparadise 13y ago
Both Google and Microsoft are loaded so they can afford lawyers. Even if it goes to trial, my guess is that there are no real /seriou$ damages so the downside is very limited. Upside is attracting attention or the public, regulators and maybe giving Google a bad eye.
cooldeal 13y ago
I believe the conversation would gone like this: Microsoft Legal: No way! We may get sued and lose! Microsoft Strategy: Okay, I see, how much will we lose? Microsoft Legal: Maybe 2 Billion in damages, maybe 5 Billion with a big B in the worst case. Microsoft Strategy: Okay, Finance Department how much cash do we have? Microsoft Finance: 75B billion cash in our bank account. Microsoft Strategy to Dev Division: Okay, make the YouTube app, oh and by the way stick a download button in there too.

siddboots 13y ago

Surely the only people who care about this sort of story are savvy enough to realize that both parties are being petty.

OGinparadise 13y ago

Microsoft has nothing to lose in this, every mention of this story in the press helps them. They are probably hoping for a lawsuit

fpgeek 13y ago
Microsoft has plenty to lose here. Push this too far and they can easily alienate the media partners they need for all sorts of things (like providing content for Windows tablets and Windows Phone).
- recoiledsnake 13y ago
  Lots of posters report that the Youtube mobile site and phone apps don't show ads so I don't know what the fuss is. Also, if WP allegedly has such low adoption that Google doesnt feel the need to make an app, how much revenue can the WP app hurt? Vimeo and Yahoo mail have WP apps but Youtube and Gmail don't. Go figure.
  - fpgeek 13y ago
    Where did I say that ad-free YouTube was pushing this too far? I think both Microsoft and Google have plenty of ways to sort that out. The download button, on the other hand, is a completely different kettle of fish. If people start using Microsoft's Windows Phone YouTube app to download and distribute YouTube video I think that will have tons of impact, way beyond the existing, lower-profile downloaders, no matter how tiny WP's adoption is.