The Trouble with Newsom on YouTubeIan Elwoodbyline‚ Dec. 03‚ 2008Mayor Gavin Newsom's office announced on December 1st that he would be making his upcoming "State of the City" address available on YouTube. The SF Chronicle reported that this 7½ hour speech would be hosted in "webisodes" by the Google-owned video sharing service. It will also be available on SFGTV and cable Channel 26. This is a step forward for those who value open government, yet there is one catch that could undermine the intended purpose of hosting such footage on an Internet video sharing service. While the intent of using new and innovative technologies to create a dialogue and disseminate government information is laudable, Newsom may have overlooked a few technicalities that would limit San Francisco taxpayers from being able to freely use the footage they are funding. |