YouTube - Did-It's Mr. Mark Simon Presents Copyright Problems As End-All; They're Not - "The Rules Of Industry Dynamics"

I just read a post on "Search Insider" -- a blog presented by MediaWeek -- which proves once again just how little many, even some of those who are in search engine marketing, understand how YouTube's used, let alone what its advantages are.

For evidence, I present the blog of one Mark Simon, the VP of Industry Relations at Did-It in New York City. He had the never to try to make a jump from stating that Google may be harmed by the growing Social Networking wave, to the now tired idea that YouTube, which is owned by Google, will fall on its sword because of copywrite problems. Implying that YouTube's content is not original.

As I explained in the response to his blog, his argument is not logical because YouTube has a great deal of original content. Mr. Simon writes "By providing the capability to easily search for copyrighted material, YouTube --which is to say, Google -- makes YouTube a more effective hosting service for pirated content, even if it conducts that hosting against its will. That opens Google up to copyright complaints...For media sites like Yahoo and MSN, which have large amounts of unique content, these problems are far less serious. First, their unique content creates other avenues of monetization, should copyright issues ever threaten a part of their search business."

That's one of the most ridiculous statements I've ever read. YouTube has a milions of video clips that are original, from Renetto, to LonelyGirl, to Kate On Sports, the list goes on and on. This -- Mr. Simon's article -- is yet another expression of East-Coast misunderstanding of, and lack of respect for, the growing video distribution industry, of which YouTube is the current leader. This is a constant song -- so common I liken it to the old desire that California fall into the Pacific Ocean.

YouTube's located in San Bruno, California, in the San Francisco / Oakland / San Jose Bay Area -- ok, the Bay Area but I did that for those who don't know what it is.

Mr. Simon, here are some basic rules of industry dynamics I want you to pay attention to:

1) The video distribution industry will grow in indirect proportion to the ease of use of video recording devices, their decrease in price, and the ease of use of systems to upload material they produce.
2) "Dynamics Rule One" will continue the reduction in the "barrier to entry" for those who want to make video shows.
3) The combination of Dynamics Rules One and Two will maintain a constant demand for and production of original content on all of the 77 "YouTube-type" video distribution portals.

Given those rules, you're absolutely wrong regarding Google / YouTube, but I enjoyed reading your take nonetheless.

Cal Berkeley - Grad Ron Rivera Out As Chicago Bears Defensive Coordinator - Jay Glazer of FoxSports.com

This story was broken by none other than Jay Glazer of FoxSports.com

Bears head coach Lovie Smith is making long-term plans for the future of the team and one of the plans could surprise many Bears fans.

FOXSports.com has learned that Chicago has decided to not renew the contract of defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. Team sources say that Smith and Rivera met recently and agreed to allow Rivera to pursue other opportunities. The sources also contend that Smith will likely end up promoting Bob Babich from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator.
People inside the Bears saw this coming for a while as Babich has been reached out to from a handful of teams in the last two off-seasons and Smith, who unlike many other coaches does not block his assistants from moving up, did not want to lose him. Thus, the head coach had a tough decision to make and promoting Babich was his choice.

Babich is also viewed as more of a long-term option for Smith as Rivera was in the running for several head coaching jobs this off-season and last year. To this point, however, he has failed to land one. He did not sign an extension last off-season, which allowed him to be a free agent after the Bears' Super Bowl run. Most teams figured he'd get one of the vacant head coaching openings and as a result has been left out in the cold.

As for a defensive coordinator opening, there's only one open right now and that is Ted Cottrell's for the taking in San Diego. Still, now that Rivera is officially free another team may decide to make a run at a man who helped guide a unit to this year's prized game.

Rivera has been with Smith since he took over the head coaching duties in Chicago.

Norv Turner - 58-82-1 - Replaces Marty Schottenheimer - 205-139-1 - As Chargers Coach - FOXSports.com and ESPN.com

Profootballtalk.com reports that the hard-working Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com broke this story and not ESPN.

Whatever, this is not good news for the Oakland Raiders, who fired Turner just two years ago. Now they have to deal with two angry ex-Raider coaches: Turner and Denver Broncos Head Coach Mike Shanahan.



Chargers hire Turner as new head coach
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com


Hoping the third time will be a winner for Norv Turner, the San Diego Chargers on Monday hired the San Francisco offensive coordinator to succeed Marty Schottenheimer as head coach.


Norv Turner's Coaching Record

The Chargers are giving Norv Turner his third crack at being an NFL head coach. He's 58-82-1 with one playoff appearance in nine seasons leading an NFL team.


Year Team Record Playoffs
1994 WAS 3-13 None
1995 WAS 6-10 None
1996 WAS 9-7 None
1997 WAS 8-7-1 None
1998 WAS 6-10 None
1999 WAS 10-6 1-1
2000 WAS 7-6 None
2004 OAK 5-11 None
2005 OAK 4-12 None


The Chargers have scheduled a 4:30 p.m. ET news conference to introduce Turner as their new head coach.

Longtime league assistant coach Ted Cottrell, whose experience with the 3-4 defense is extensive, has been hired as defensive coordinator for the Chargers.

Turner, 54, compiled a 58-82-1 record as head coach of the Washington Redskins (1994-2000) and the Oakland Raiders (2004-2005). He served as the San Francisco offensive coordinator last season and was credited with the dramatic progress achieved by 49ers' second-year quarterback Alex Smith.

Contract details were not immediately available.

One of six known candidates interviewed by San Diego officials after Schottenheimer was dismissed, Turner was the lone man with primary expertise on the offensive side. Originally, it was believed the Chargers preferred that their new head coach have a background on the defensive side of the ball.

Turner interviewed earlier this month for the head coach vacancy in Dallas, where he played a big role as the Cowboys' offensive coordinator during the team's dominance in the 1990s, but did not land that job.

In San Diego, he will inherit a high-octane Chargers offense featuring star tailback and 2006 most valuable player LaDainian Tomlinson. But Turner will also be responsible for the continued development of quarterback Philip Rivers, who was in his first year as the starter in 2006.

Beyond Turner, the other known San Diego head coach candidates -- Gary Gibbs (New Orleans), Mike Zimmer (Atlanta), Mike Singletary (San Francisco), Ron Rivera (Chicago) and Rex Ryan (Baltimore) -- are all coaches whose expertise is on the defensive side. All but Singletary are current coordinators.

Cottrell has interviewed in the past for head coach positions, and came very close to landing the top job in San Francisco four years ago.

San Diego officials prefer to retain a 3-4 defense, the scheme for which the personnel is best suited, and hiring Cottrell allows that. Cottrell was actually recommended to Schottenheimer by Smith when then-Chargers defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was hired by the Dallas Cowboys as their new head coach.

Schottenheimer instead leaned toward hiring his younger brother, Kurt Schottenheimer, as the replacement for Phillips. In addition to Marty Schottenheimer, the Chargers, who posted an NFL-best 14-2 record in 2006 but were ousted in the divisional round of the playoffs, have lost five assistant coaches since the end of the season. That includes both coordinators.

Cottrell, 59, possesses 22 seasons of NFL experience as an assistant coach, including three stints as a defensive coordinator. He most recently worked as coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings (2004-2005). Cottrell lost his job when the Vikings fired coach Mike Tice after the 2005 season, and he worked in the NFL office in 2006.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.

Oakland Raiders Hire Greg Knapp As Offensive Coordinator - Oakland Tribune

Knapp time for sleepy Raiders 'O'
By Steve Corkran, MEDIANEWS STAFF
Article Last Updated: 01/30/2007 02:40:16 AM PST

ALAMEDA — The Raiders hired Greg Knapp to replace Tom Walsh and John Shoop as their offensive coordinator, the team announced in a release Monday.

Knapp, 43, spent the past three seasons as offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons. He lost his job when the Falcons fired coach Jim Mora and new coach Bobby Petrino decided against keeping Knapp.

Knapp had the latitude to call plays in Atlanta and also asoffensive coordinator with the 49ers from 2001-03. That won't be the case in his new role.

New Raiders coach Lane Kiffin said in his introductory news conference last Tuesday that his offensive coordinator will "assist me in daily plans and activities." Come game time, the play-calling will be Kiffin's responsibility.

"I'll call the plays for us to make sure that my name's on this franchise, and my name's on this team, and my name's on this offense. That it's run the way I want it to be run, and that it remains a highly explosive offense that is attacking at all times," Kiffin said.

In the team release, Kiffin said of Knapp: "He shares the same vision and passion for what it will take to bring an explosive offense back to the Raider Nation. His history of getting his quarterbacks to play at an elite level is second to none."
Fired coach Art Shell entrusted the play-calling to Walsh and Shoop last season. Walsh called the plays for the first 11 games last season. Shoop handled the play-calling duties the final five games. The results were disastrous.

The Raiders (2-14) scored a league-worst 168 points last season and only 138 of those came offensively. Their offense scored only 12 touchdowns in 16 games, a statistic that managing general partner Al Davis called "unbelievably bad."
Knapp did not return a phone call.

The Falcons led the league in rushing each of the past three seasons. The Raiders finished 29th last season. The Raiders and Falcons ranked 31st and 32nd, respectively, in passing offense last season.

Shoop left the Raiders for the offensive coordinator vacancy at the University of North Carolina earlier this month. Walsh has one year remaining on his contract, and he likely will be kept on as an adviser or released after reaching a settlement.
Knapp interviewed for the Raiders coaching vacancy in 2004 but withdrew his name from consideration once Mora got hired by the Falcons one day later. Knapp followed Mora to Atlanta after spending nine seasons with the 49ers.

Knapp also interviewed with the Cleveland Browns about their offensive coordinator's job but got passed over.

In other news, Kiffin still is awaiting word from former Falcons offensive line coach Tom Cable about an offer to assume the Raiders offensive line coaching position.

Also, Kiffin met with his entire coaching staff for the first time Monday. He likely will make decisions on whether to retain assistant coaches such as Walsh and Jackie Slater in the coming days. Most of the defensive coaches already are under contract, including defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.