IT’S NO SECRET THAT YOUTUBE IS OFTEN TOO QUICK to take down videos in response to complaints:

Want a video removed from YouTube? Send along a fake takedown notice pretending to be from the copyright holder. At least, it’s a prank that worked for a 15 year old from Perth, Australia, who sent a signed form to YouTube pretending to be from the Australian Broadcasting Company. The form requested the takedown of hundreds of clips from “The Chaser’s War on Everything”.

YouTube not only reacted, but sent warnings to all the uploaders saying their accounts would be deleted if they persisted. As it turns out, the ABC actually encourages the spread of Chasers clips, since they consider the comedy series to be a good promotion for the channel’s content.

YouTube’s fear of controversy has been exploited by others, and many folks on the right think that it’s especially quick to take down videos charged with being politically incorrect. The response is Qube TV.

This seems very constructive to me. YouTube was in first, but there are lots of competitors (I use MotionBox because it has better video quality). Instead of complaining and demanding regulation, just go into competition. The barriers to entry aren’t that high, and that’s how markets are supposed to work.

UPDATE: Reader Jim Ashmore writes:

What I find interesting is the contrasting response to effective information outlets. Those on the right bristled at liberal media domination. What did they do? They went out and built competing outlets such as talk radio and Fox News. And what was the reaction by the left to the dominant effectiveness of conservative talk radio? The attempts to force equal time via the a revived Fairness Doctrine. They have been thus-far ineffective, but watch for its revival under a Democrat administration. Liberals also want to shut down Fox so they can re-dominate television news. I find it interesting that 7 of the 8 major news outlets are slanted to the left and yet, liberals want it 7 of 7 (or more likely 1 of 1).

That is why I find it gratifying to see that conservatives countered YouTube’s bias by creating their own internet video network instead of whining like little cry babies. Bravo to them.

Indeed. Though to be fair, it’s not so much that YouTube is biased, as that it’s limp in the face of pressure from whatever quarter, and the lefty (and Islamist) crowds have organized to take advantage of that.

UPDATE: Bob Krumm, however, is underwhelmed.