MICROSOFT TEMPORARILY CLOSES VIDEO SITE

Microsoft is taking pains to keep its Soapbox video-sharing site free of copyrighted material. The company has decided to use technology that would note videos uploaded by users that might have copyright limitations.Soapbox was launched last month; it is similar to Google’s YouTube. Adam Sohn, a director in Microsoft's online services group, said that the site was now only accepting registered users and is not open to new users.This precautionary measure on Microsoft’s side seems to be stepped up post the suing of Google by Viacom for 1 billion USD.The technology the company plans to use is from Audible Magic that will filter uploaded videos and block those with content under copyright, Sohn said. Once the tool is installed, the company will re-open Soapbox to all users within 30 to 60 days, Sohn said.Sohn did not specify the number of copyrighted content that was removed from the site, but said, "That it's an ongoing thing, it happens all the time."On the other hand, Viacom had asked YouTube to remove copyrighted clips from the online video source. The amount of video clips to be removed adds up to a staggering 100,000. Viacom claims that YouTube has not set up content filters that allow the copyright holders of videos to know when clips have been uploaded to the YouTube site.