chad

Since March 2007, when Viacom first accused Google in a $1 billion lawsuit of profiting off thousands of unauthorized copyrighted clips that once appeared on YouTube, most of the conflict had smoldered out of public view.

Once the case documents were unsealed on Thursday, all the spite roared into the open. Google attacked Viacom for chopping up e-mails from YouTube's founders in an obvious attempt to invent sinister-sounding messages. In Viacom's motion for summary judgment, the parent company of Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures railed against Google and YouTube for developing "serial amnesia" during depositions and … Read more

Lawyers working on a $1 billion copyright lawsuit filed by Viacom against Google's YouTube may have uncovered evidence that employees of the video site were among those who uploaded unauthorized content to YouTube.

In addition, internal YouTube e-mails indicate that YouTube managers knew and discussed the existence of unauthorized content on the site with employees but chose not to remove the material, three sources with knowledge of the case told CNET.

The e-mails, according to the sources who asked for anonymity because of the ongoing litigation, surfaced during an exchange of information between the two sides of the legal … Read more

The weekend of my birthday, I read some unfortunate news online about the death of Chad McDaniel, a USAC midget car driver who died of neck and head injuries sustained during a race at Knoxvile Raceway in Iowa. McDaniel was just 34 years old, and was having one of the most successful years of his career. Also, McDaniel was liked and loved by his fellow competitors and of course his family. I thought of maybe doing a video blog tribute to McDaniel, but I feared that some people might view this as exploitative and in general bad taste. So instead, … Read more

Back in January, I wrote a column on what Alltel customers need to know about the merger between their carrier and Verizon Wireless. Most of the questions I addressed in the post came from readers, but the last question was all mine: "Will I no longer have to suffer through those irritating "Chad" Alltel commercials?" I've never been a fan of Alltel's "Chad" commercials, which feature the ever perky and always smiling Chad continuously outsmarting much dorkier reps from the other major carriers.

Now, I have nothing against Alltel, and I wasn'… Read more

It's rare that you get Chad Hurley, co-founder of the Google-owned YouTube, and Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, on a panel together. But they were on Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and we tuned in via Webcast.

Not surprisingly, neither Hurley nor Zuckerberg dropped any bombs. They've been trained in the ways of the Force, after all. But here's what they said in response to the panel's final question for them: where do they see their companies being in five years?

Also not surprisingly, both founders expressed confidence that, yes, their companies … Read more

PARK CITY, Utah--As Hollywood stars drew crowds to the screening rooms here at the Sundance Film Festival, several Web media pioneers--celebrities in their own right-- also got the spotlight Saturday at a panel focused on the future of entertainment in the Digital Age.

Moderated by All Things D's Kara Swisher in her fourth such Sundance engagement, the panelists were Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings, YouTube CEO and co-founder Chad Hurley; and Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu, which is NBC Universal and News Corp.'s joint online video venture.

Each had a somewhat different take on how they imagine … Read more

Chad Hurley's vision of the future has video taking a much more integral part of people's lives than it does now. Not surprisingly, at the center of this vision is YouTube.

I'm not convinced.

Hurley posted his ideas on Google's Official blog. He said that video will continue to grow exponentially.

"Our goal is to allow every person on the planet to participate by making the upload process as simple as placing a phone call," Hurley wrote. "This new video content will be available on any screen--in your your living room, or on … Read more

We all love Chad, don't we? You know Chad: the good-looking, unassuming guy who's taller than his rivals, but not too tall as to intimidate shorter guys, with the square jaw and fauxhawk (are those still in play?), who's so nice and just sincerely wants everyone to be able to share their wireless plans? As long as the plan is from Alltel Wireless Network, that is.

Well, haven't you always wondered what it would be like if we saw those guys as kids? No? Me neither. That's not stopping Alltel from releasing a new spot … Read more

How deeply has YouTube seeped into our collective consciousness and commandeered our culture? Who better to answer that than Oprah Winfrey?

The talk show host on Tuesday is scheduled to interview YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, according to a story in Variety. The Hollywood trade publication reports that characters from popular YouTube videos will also be featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Sure, you techies understand YouTube's cultural significance, but there are still plenty of newbies in this country who need Oprah to boil it down.

Anybody that has ever seen Hurley or Chen speak in public … Read more