Glossary - Y

YouTube®

YouTube® is the largest internet site for sharing video files. It was founded in February 2005 by PayPal® employees Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim. In November 2006, Google® bought YouTube® for $ 1.65 billion. Google® made the service available in several languages and instituted collaboration with local partners. According to a study by  Ellacoya Networks©, an American company that produces network traffic analyzers, YouTube® accounts for 10% of total internet traffic. (Streaming video as an entire category accounts for 18% of Internet traffic.)

The service is a frequent target of criticism, and in some countries  YouTube access is blocked. YouTube® is often criticized by totalitarian regimes and censorship organizations  for copyright infringement  and promoting excessive freedom of speech, and by other critics for political reasons, defamatory content and the display of violence.