Matti Robinson
13 Feb 2009 7:31
YouTube has introduced free and paid downloads -- maybe an another step towards a more commercially viable service. Both of them are currently in a test phase which means that only approved YouTube partners can add downloadable videos. Also a new "Purchases" tab has been added under "My Videos".
YouTube partners are allowed set a small download fee for their submitted videos. In addition, the author can choose a license for the video from several options, including Creative Commons and Public Domain. The money transactions are handled by Google Checkout.
All the downloaded videos are in MP4 format and the paid videos are not protected by DRM. Therefore both free and paid videos can be played on variety of media players and devices.
Purchasing videos is currently limited to the United States but free downloads are available worldwide.
If you'd like to save other than YouTube partners' videos to your HDD, this is the guide for you.