News: I am sad to report that YouTube has suspended the account of PS22 chorus, the wonderful bunch of 5th graders from PS22 who inspired Tori Amos, Stevie Nicks, and other singers with their amazing renditions of the musicians’ own songs. The kids’ videos generated over 7 million views, and got the kids on Nightline, Good Morning America, and other national TV shows. Here is the link to the blog post from the teacher and music director Gregg Breinberg.

Analysis: Unbelievable. Is this suspension at YouTube’s own initiative? Or did one of the copyright holders complain? Usually, you can see a claim of copyright asserted, with the copyright holder’s name, for removed videos that received DMCA notices on YouTube. The teacher says that the YouTube suspension was a mistake by YouTube, but all of the old videos are lost (with their 7 million views count). The teacher is starting another YouTube channel. In any event, this is very sad. How can children learning how to sing well be a “terms of use” violation, YouTube?

Wait until the end. Touching.

Surprising she did not at least finish her term.

News: Cablevision’s victory over several television networks will stand. Cablevision was sued by several networks for using centralized servers to allow its subscribers to record shows for later viewing. (The other way to store the shows is through a set top box or device in each home, ala Tivo.) The Second Circuit held that such storage by Cablevision’s servers and subsequent replaying of the copyrighted shows did not constitute direct infringement. More here

News: The rumors are true. Steve Chen, one of the co-founders, its CTO, and and one of the most prominent “faces” of YouTube, has left YouTube. He’s moved on to Google to work on other projects. (More)

Analysis: Wow, this is sad, but not surprising news. One of the chief architects has left YouTube. Not surprising given that YouTube has been changing over the past year to become more like the professional-content site Hulu. Still it is a sad day for YouTube. Oh, what could have been. (It’s even more sad that neither Google nor YouTube made an official announcement of Steve Chen’s change.) The original YouTube may well be now dead, for all intents and purposes.

Here’s the historic video of Steve with Chad Hurley announcing back in 2006 being bought by Google.

Click here for Lisa Marie Presley’s statement after Michael Jackson’s death

Here’s a brief (very touching) passage:

“The hardest decision I have ever had to make, which was to walk away and let his fate have him, even though I desperately loved him and tried to stop or reverse it somehow. After the Divorce, I spent a few years obsessing about him and what I could have done different, in regret. Then I spent some angry years at the whole situation. At some point, I truly became Indifferent, until now.

“As I sit here overwhelmed with sadness, reflection and confusion at what was my biggest failure to date, watching on the news almost play by play The exact Scenario I saw happen on August 16th, 1977 happening again right now with Michael (A sight I never wanted to see again) just as he predicted, I am truly, truly gutted.”

Click here for CBS video coverage

“I Want You Back”

25th anniversary of Thriller video: