American video-on-demand service Hulu, hotly tipped to be coming to the UK to partner with ITV, is the latest media outlet to announce it’s considering charging for content. As the amount of money we’re paying for our bandwidth continues to fall, could the cost of what we actually do with our broadband connections be set to rise?

While the mainstream media were getting themselves worked up about YouTube and PRS finally coming to a financial settlement, it has emerged a band of bodies representing major musicians is mounting a protest against the Government’s recent u-turn on the road towards Digital Britain. The coalition, which the likes of Sir Paul McCartney and Damon Albarn associate themselves with, says the ministers’ new proposals are “extremely negative,” expensive and just don’t make sense.

The UK press has been getting excited at the prospect of YouTube bringing back premium music content – and American song streaming service Pandora coming back to Blighty – with the news that British music royalty collector the PRS is cutting its rates. By all accounts, it looks like they’ve got the wrong end of the stick.

YouTube is having to take down thousands of sexually explicit videos after it was targeted by pranksters on what’s being dubbed “Porn Day.” While most of the clips have already been deleted, others could be up for days.

Google’s first television advert hit the small screen in the United States as the company tries to make its web browser, Chrome, more mainstream. It marks a significant departure for the search giant, which until now has avoided shelling out on traditional advertising – its website boasting Google’s become “one of the world’s best known brands almost entirely through word of mouth.”

Ireland’s draft Broadcasting Bill includes provision to extend TV licence fee payments to cover Internet access – and it’s soon set to become law. Even devices capable of picking up YouTube appear to be included in the Broadcasting Act 2009’s definition of “television.”

YouTube have blocked access for UK users to many music videos after failing to come to an agreement with the UK’s Performing Rights Society (PRS) over royalty payments to artists.
Reading between the lines it appears that YouTube were looking for a lower fee per view to offset the dramatic growth in viewer numbers. Having failed [...]