I know many people are not necessarily high on YouTube. It violates Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), it has thousands of silly video clips jut to kill time, etc. These were my perception of YouTube in the past, too.
I’m changed. I think YouTube is Prometheus in our century. It is true that the site has a number of short videos, which may help to kill time but not many other things other than that. However, I have discovered that YouTube has videos with passion, as well!
Without YouTube, I wouldn’t have been able to hear voice of Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and Nobel Peace Prize lauréat. I was impressed by his passion and thoughts as an economist by watching a video in which Yunos talks to a group of students.
I understood better the underlying emotion of Ms Beate S. Gordon, thanks to the video of her speech at Middlebury College (the US), posted at YouTube. She is indispensable in my life. Thanks to her, who drafted in 1945 the Article 24 of the Japanese Constitution that set out the equality between women and men, I had high education, that had paved a way through to my life as a professional in Geneva today.
Above said, I appreciate that IPR is important to protect value of thoughts and ideas created by people, art, music, scientific inventions, business ideas, etc. I am aware that there are many people who live on their good ideas and imaginations, such as artists, novelists, scientists, innovators and more.
A dilemma is that IPR works to prohibit us from enjoying full benefits of technologies.
YouTube in one aspect plays a role of Prometheus in our century. We should work to go beyond IPR so that all the people could enjoy benefits of technologies that allow sharing of good ideas and useful knowledge, while people who live on quality ideas will be rewarded for their contributions.