IBM Cloud Video

History

Ustream was launched when the founders (John Ham, Brad Hunstable and Gyula Fehér) wanted a way for their friends in the US Army, who were deployed overseas in the Iraq War, to be able to communicate with their families. A product like Ustream would provide them with a way to talk to all of their relatives at once when free time in the war zone was limited.

Acquisition

Early investors included DCM Ventures and Softbank, the latter of which invested $20 million in 2010 with an option to invest additional capital. On January 21, 2016, IBM acquired Ustream for up to $150 million. It was combined with Aspera, Clearleap, and Cleversafe to form IBM's Cloud Video [IBM Watson Media] unit. IBM envisioned the use of its technology as part of an enterprise video offering.

Notable users

IBM Cloud Video was used by politicians such as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, to video game streamers, to artists such as Kanye West, Tyler, The Creator, Linkin Park, Tori Amos, Deadmau5 and the Plain White T's. Lifecasters such as iJustine and E-TARD The LifeCaster have also used IBM Cloud Video. Notable companies/universities/other who have used IBM Cloud Video include Salesforce, University of Pennsylvania Wharton, Herman Miller, Mazda, US Open, Fox Sports (United States) World Cup, USA Network: Mr. Robot, Sony for the PlayStation 4, University of Georgia, Grohe, a California superior court and Roland Corporation.

Plans

The plans for IBM Cloud Video are, from cheapest to most expensive, Silver, Gold and Platinum. IBM offers a 30-day free trial for IBM Cloud Video which includes all the features of Silver/Gold/Platinum, phone and chat support with a live monitoring console and a single admin and user seat. Here is a comparison table of features including Silver, Gold and Platinum. Other features not included due to being the same in all plans include HD transcoding, phone and chat support with a live monitoring console, video embed control and API access, channel branding, passwords and a registration gate, a chat, Q&A, polling and clickable video overlays, an automatic archive with AI closed captions, and simulated live and playlists.

Automatic content blocking

IBM Watson Media uses a copyright enforcement service provided by Vobile, which uses a proprietary fingerprinting system to automatically detect copyrighted content. This system has been known to generate false positives, blocking content that should fall under fair use, or which has been specifically licensed by the stream originator. In one such incident, the official livecast of the 2012 Hugo Award ceremony was terminated because it incorporated authorized clips of nominated television shows and movies, causing "a flood of livid Twitter messages". The following day, Ustream apologized for the incident and temporarily disabled automatic blocking while they adjusted the system to "better balance the needs of broadcasters, viewers, and copyright holders".

References

References

1. [http://www.cynopsis.com/monday-april-14th-2008-2/ Cynopsis: Digital. April 14, 2008.]
2. [[WebWare]], [http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9833887-2.html Merry Christmas, Mom: Ustream links soldiers with home] {{Webarchive. link. (2008-12-01, December 14, 2007)
3. (21 January 2016). "IBM acquires Ustream". [[Variety (magazine).
4. "Softbank pays $20 million for stake in Ustream".
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6. (21 January 2016). "IBM Confirms Acquisition Of UStream, Forms New Cloud Video [IBM Watson Media] Unit".
7. Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins. (2007-11-26). "YouTube and UStream Go Political". [[Mashable]].
8. Brad Hunstable, Founder. (2007-11-16). "The Ustream.TV Blog » Blog Archive » Plain White T's Event Serves 130,000". Ustream.tv.
9. Vilas-boas, Eric. (2010-08-09). "Kanye Hits Ustream, Talks New Album".
10. (September 5, 2006). "E-TARD The 24/7 LifeCaster". E-TARD.TV.
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13. Hunstable, Brad. (2010-07-16). "Launch of Improved Measures to Protect Copyright Holders and Vobile Integration".
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15. Ha, Anthony. (September 3, 2012). "Ustream Apologizes For Shutting Down The Hugo Awards Livestream, Says It Will 'Recalibrate'". [[TechCrunch]].
16. Gross, Doug. (September 4, 2012). "Ustream apologizes for killing Hugo Awards webcast". CNN.