YouTube setups video download, paid videos


YouTube announced Thursday it will test out video downloads for limited content. Currently the video site said it is working with universities to allow their content to be downloaded for viewing, rather that Internet-only viewing. The idea is content could be downloaded and viewed off-line while traveling or in classrooms with limited or no Internet. YouTube states that the pilot program will be expanded for other providers in the future.

There are already a number of utilities for converting videos from YouTube, such as Zamzar. It will be interesting to see if either YouTube will offering improvements over such utilities, or even obstruct their functionality.

The site also noted work on offering fee-based videos, using Google Checkout. Purchased videos will be stored under a new My Purchases tab.

While not only providing a revenue stream, it can be a distribution system for independent content providers. Perhaps even more so, it may address the long problem of copyrighted TV content ending up on YouTube.