Good ol’ YouTube. You may be filled with one or two (million) more funny animal videos than is necessary but you’re still phenomenal. Partly because you realize that more than just tech-savvy, English-speaking westerners want to watch videos online.

Territorial Restrictions

There are three things crippling the growth of online video right now: the lack of imagination on the part of Hollywood (see Zediva for an example); the amount of money being charged by content creators to the likes of Netflix and Amazon; a failure to realize that the Internet is a worldwide destination.

The latter of those means that most video content on the Web is available only in certain territories. Being a resident of the U.K. I cannot watch Hulu, for example, and my American friends get the same treatment when it comes to BBC iPlayer.

This makes sense from a financial point of view. But it’s surely an untenable situation as the world becomes a much smaller place and we digest more content over the Internet.

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Life In A Day was always an ambitious project: to capture one day in the life of thousands of people. Did YouTube manage to achieve these lofty aims? You can now find out for yourself by watching the feature-length documentary film on YouTube for free.

The YouTube Movie

YouTube asked everyone to film themselves doing whatever they usually do on a day-to-day basis, effectively just living their lives, On July 24, 2010. The footage would then be reviewed, with the most interesting or diverse being chosen to form part of a new film directed by Kevin Macdonald and produced by Ridley Scott.

The response was phenomenal, with 80,000 people from 192 countries submitting 450,000 hours of footage in total. This was then whittled down to just one hour and 35 minutes to form Life In A Day, colloquially known as The YouTube Movie. But this isn’t to YouTube what The Social Network is to Facebook. It’s a whole lot more interesting.

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Not content with offering an alternative to broadcast television and cable channels, the Web is starting to mimic its longtime brother-in-arms. YouTube is about to get a swarm of new channels filled with original programming. With some big-name celebrities attached for good measure.

Rumors Aplenty

Back in February of this year it was rumored that Google was seeking celebrities to front channels that would make up a new section on YouTube dedicated to original programming. $5 million per channel/celebrity was on offer to those willing to commit.

In April the rumors changed slightly, with a $100 million pool of money set aside to create content for 20 channels. These would be new vertical channels based around genres – art, sport, technology, etc. – and change the look and feel of YouTube.

It turns out neither set of rumors was spot on, but both combined got somewhere near the truth.

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When a channel aimed entirely at young children is hacked to show wall-to-wall porn something has gone seriously awry. And I can’t help thinking this Sesame Street hacking incident will upset more than just concerned parents.

Sesame Street Hacked

What was once a YouTube channel filled with videos of Muppets entertaining and educating kids at the same time became, for a brief period at the weekend, a YouTube channel filled with hardcore pornography. Which is an embarrassment for all concerned. Apart from the hackers responsible, and fans of porn, I guess.

The hacking of Sesame Street’s YouTube channel occurred on Sunday, with porn visible for around 20 minutes before being suspended for “repeated or severe violations of our Community Guidelines.”

The hackers uploaded several hardcore porn videos to the site and changed the profile description to one naming two people as being responsible. Needless to say it’s unlikely either of those named actually are involved.

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YouTube is now offering its fledgling movie rentals service in the U.K. The content is good, the prices fair. The sky is surely the limit for YouTube as it grows bigger and moves into new markets.

YouTube Movies

YouTube began experimenting with movie rentals at the beginning of 2010 in conjunction with the Sundance Film Festival. After various relaunches and content additions, YouTube Movies was relaunched in May of this year with big Hollywood studios on board.

After U.S. came Canada, and now the U.K., which is the third market YouTube has started offering movie rentals in. I’m guessing this is seen as the gateway to Europe, so expect more countries to follow soon.

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YouTube is good for many things: videos of cute kittens, videos of people injuring themselves, free TV shows and movies. What it’s not so good for is sourcing footage for TV shows, because hugely embarrassing mistakes can occur.

Gaddafi and the IRA

The show is titled Exposure: Gaddafi and the IRA, and was intended to investigate deposed Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi’s links to Irish Republican terrorists, and how he helped channel money and weapons their way.

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Two things are probably key for any tech startup looking to make it beyond the first year: funding, and a partner willing and able to push you into the mainstream. Magisto already has both, despite having been up and running for just a few months, most of it in a closed beta.

Magisto Magic

Magisto is a online video editor unlike any other. Because although there are many already out there that offer a range of tools designed to make the user’s experience as simple as possible, Magisto goes one stage further and does everything automatically.

We covered Magisto in some depth just a few days ago on the news that it was launching to the general public after five months in a closed beta. Helping the Israeli-based company along the way was Li Ka-Shing, who put part of the $5.5 million up that represents Series B funding.

But Magisto had potentially bigger news under its belt.

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