Youku
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Youku (Simplified Chinese: 优酷 pinyin yóukù, literally means "The best and the coolest") is a video sharing site based in People's Republic of China.
| Youku | |
|---|---|
| URL | http://www.youku.com/ |
| Slogan | The World is Watching |
| Commercial? | yes |
| Type of site | video sharing |
| Registration | optional |
| Available language(s) | Chinese |
| Owner | Victor Koo |
| Created by | Victor Koo |
| Launched | 2006 |
| Current status | active |
Contents |
[edit] History
Created by Victor Koo, the former President of Sohu, beta launched in June 2006 and formally launched in December 2006. The company has recently received $25 million funding from venture capitalists. [1] Youku.com is ranked #1 in Chinese video sharing sector by China Internet Society, iResearch and Baidu User Index. Youku has recently teamed up with Myspace in China. [2]
[edit] Usage
Youku permits users to upload videos regardless of their length. Youku has partnered with a number of TV stations, film and TV production companies in China that regularly uploaded media content on the site. It also allows user-generated video uploads. According to a Compete.com survey, the site attracts at least 6.5 million visitors annually as of this year.[1]
[edit] Copyright infringement
Due to lax copyright enforcement in People's Republic of China, unlicensed, unauthorized copyrighted material such as full length movies, music videos, even copies of user-generated video from other video sharing websites are abundant.
However recently, a number of copyrighted material is coming up as blocked in certain regions of the world.
