Amazon Files For 'AmazonTube' and 'OpenTube' Trademarks As Fight With YouTube Gets Pettier

"Amazon applied for an 'AmazonTube' trademark earlier this week, according to a filing found by TV Answer Man, as the company's public feud with Google over accessing YouTube content on Amazon's devices continues to escalate," reports The Verge. "While there's not a lot of information about what AmazonTube might be, based on the trademark application's description of 'providing non-downloadable pre-recorded audio, visual and audiovisual works via wireless networks on a variety of topics of general interest,' it sure sounds like a YouTube competitor." From the report: TechCrunch notes that Amazon has also applied for a trademark on "OpenTube," as well, which, if anything, is a more blatant name for what Google is looking to accomplish here. It's also not the first time that Amazon has been rumored to be working on its own, free video service -- earlier this year there were rumors that Amazon was planning a "freemium" version of Prime Video, although the company released a statement saying that it had no plans to do so.

Others already taken?

[MountainLogic]

I assume that kittenTube and smutTube were already taken?

Re:Others already taken?

[mikael]

There's always Amazoogle

Re:

[coofercat]

How about googzon? Youzon?

Amagoogon?

"good day kind sir, may I enquire what you are doing?"
"Amagoogon"
"I say, I'm not sure I understand. You have your 'what' on?"

What's with the 'tube' obsession? I mean, if you're going to compete, then compete - don't try and pass it off as similar because it's got a similar name. Being better than youtube is only as hard as getting users to post cat videos. It's not hard to do better that their terrible UX.

Re:

[muphin]

Ironically, OpenTube.Com and .Net are already taken...
but AmazonTube.com is registered by Amazon

Re: Others already taken?

[loufoque]

Or, more likely, someone will receive threats from lawyers to hand them over.

Yeah... they're pushing alternatives kinda hard.

[Kenja]

My FireTV is quite instant that I install FireFox to watch YouTube... which I guess is a work around for now, but it means I can't control YouTube from my phone like I'm used to. Seems like no real winners when massive monopolies fight.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[Kenja]

Can go with FireFox now, seems a better choice than Silk.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Non-downloadable? Then how to play it?

[Anonymous Coward]

providing non-downloadable pre-recorded audio, visual and audiovisual works

If it's non-downloadable, how is your computer supposed to play it? Streaming, you'll note, is just a form of downloading. Streaming content is downloaded to your computer (and can still be saved to disk, although sometimes the surrounding UI doesn't make that as easy as you'd like and third party tools have to be used). Downloading means transferring it from the remote end to your local end.

If the content is "non-downloadable" at all as that summary alleges, how is it to be played?

Re:

[ls671]

Brilliant! Just like my customers that don't understand how they bust their bandwidth limits; "But I don't download anything! I just stream it".

Re:

[julian67]

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yup

Re:

[viperidaenz]

Perhaps the same way it's not called downloading when you copy data from a computer to a monitor, like when I use a chromecast to play videos on my phone on my TV.

I'm not downloading what I type to my monitor.

Re:

[drinkypoo]

Perhaps the same way it's not called downloading when you copy data from a computer to a monitor,

Video you are streaming is cached before it is displayed. Video you are displaying is only decoded. The monitor has no facility for downloading anything. It is a peripheral, not a terminal. Nice try, but no.

Re:

[viperidaenz]

Frame being drawn is cached by the controller of the monitor.

When I typed that it was also cached by the USB display adapter, before it converted it to DVI.

Re:

[OolimPhon]

I don't know if they still have this in the States, but in the rest of the world there is this thing called "TV", whereby you can get programmes broadcast through the air (ie wireless) by giant transmitters. You don't even need to have a computer to watch them!

Re:

[cyberchondriac]

"Non-saveable" would certainly be more technically accurate, but it sounds rather awkward. Saving is usually understood as a part of downloading, so they just go with "non-downloadable".
What irks me is when people say they've downloaded something to sound technically saavy when they've actually just copied a file from a disk or thumbdrive. Copy doesn't sound trendy enough or something.

Re:

[Xenx]

There are plenty of uses for their own video platform that would more than qualify as open. It doesn't have to be the entire process is open. Just being open to allowing people to host and watch content is enough to qualify. Just because you attribute a specific definition to the word, doesn't mean everyone has to in every instance of the word.

Re:

[Xenx]

From what I can see.... Amazon has plenty of anime video of a decent variety. However, yes.. it's not part of prime. To me, that sounds like a licensing issue. Most of the content you see that is part of prime is either loss leaders, to draw attention, or content that isn't going to sell well on its own. Anime is a niche enough market. Most likely the projected increase in subscriptions from expanding the selection wouldn't outweigh the increased costs.

Good

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not a big fan of Amazon, but I'm a big fan of them fucking Google over in any possible way.

don't be evil

[ChunderDownunder]

Google trolling MS over windows store, Google fighting Amazon over digital streaming...

Isn't the common theme here Google?

Re:

[Opportunist]

Hans plays with Lotti, Lotti plays with Jane...

Re:

[sysrammer]

Shock that monkey.

Re:

[Opportunist]

Could we PLEASE get one thread without someone feeling the urge to derail it and talk about Donald?

Re:

[cyberchondriac]

That would be lovely but it's never gonna happen. Trolls and shills, Russian and otherwise, are playing both sides of the political fence to increase the division and hostility among Americans. United we stand, divided we fall, and all. They have a vested interest in fanning the flames.

Re:

[Luthair]

Yes, its other companies trying to detract from the market leader.

Re:

[drinkypoo]

Yes, its other companies trying to detract from the market leader.

They're not going to be the leaders for long if they throw hissy fit tantrums and take their player off all the devices of people who won't sell their players even though they don't sell their players. They're going to be an also-ran with poor viewership. Note that Google is trying to monetize Youtube and failing. How much longer do you think they're going to keep running it? Even the rubes who don't block ads skip all of them in five seconds. And then there's Youtube Red... do you even know anyone consider

Re:

[Luthair]

Same argument could be made about Amazon refusing to sell other streaming devices. Amazon also violated the Youtube terms of service when they implemented their Youtube player. Either way it seems pretty unlikely that Youtube can be assailed at this point.

Re:

[GWXerog]

At least in the case of Google\Amazon Google has up until recently allowed their content to be played on the Fire devices but Amazon has never allowed their Prime streaming content to be watched on Any Google tablet or streaming device, nor would they allow Chromecast streaming devices to be sold on Amazon

Fallopian Tube

[Zorro]

is still open and available.

Google's trademark attorneys

[DedTV]

Just got a huge erection.

Wait until Google drowns the Amazon

[Botnet-of-People]

Petty? This isn't petty until Google files a trademark notice for, say, a large body of water. How about Niagara or the Nile? Or if size is all that matters, how about surfing the Pacific? On the other hand, I suspect Google, being the word company that it is, would simply try to one-up Amazon Alphabetically, simply by trademarking a word that occurs earlier in the dictionary like Access (for a cloud service), Able (a sort of catch-all service that en-Ables users to do anything), Acquire (for an online stor

Re:

[sysrammer]

Google has trademarked Alphabet. They have *all* the letters now.

Re:

[sysrammer]

I always pictured pneumatic tube systems that were the height of technology in ancient times.

Star Trek Discovery

[TomR teh Pirate]

Maybe Amazon will be the guys who finally make it possible to legally watch Discovery without paying for a dumb service.

Re:

[Ecuador]

Yeah, we don't want to miss the Star Trek series which has as a driving plot device of a universe full of sort of midichlorians/spores or something that allow you to travel anywhere instantly...

I didn't have high hopes, but on the very first episode they introduce a "science" vessel that has no probes/drones at all! And has some sort of "imaging processors" that make its optical instruments not be able to see things that a 20th century kiddy-scope can see! And to top all that, they prepare an EVA session (s

While mildly entertaining...

[asackett]

... rich people behaving badly is rarely newsworthy.

One more to register Amazon

[viperidaenz]

To target YouTube Red, they should trademark RedTube

Re:

[nasch]

To target YouTube Red, they should trademark RedTube

Too late.

http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/... [uspto.gov]

Re:

[viperidaenz]

Thanks for posting a link to an expired search session.

I am well aware that redtube.com is a porn site that has been around for many many years, long before YouTubeRed came to be.

Re:

[nasch]

Oh, oops... I thought that would link to the trademark listing page. Well sounds like you got the idea.

Re:

[ChunderDownunder]

Really? I always thought it was a dig at their users, or you-tubers - likening them to a sack of potatoes.

Re:

[cyberchondriac]

Exactly, and I would think that should be an issue for the Trademark. Amazon could at least be a little more original and not use the "tube" moniker. Vimeo has a original name.
Maybe Vidazon, AmaScreen, or.. I don't know.. those really suck.

Headline stupidity

[locater16]

Pettier? This is the best thing to happen to the internet all year. Finally a competitor to the only major user made video distribution site on the net, one more interested in testing out faulty AI algorithms on its users than in retaining them, because hey where else are they going to go lol?

Re:

[drinkypoo]

Pettier? This is the best thing to happen to the internet all year. Finally a competitor to the only major user made video distribution site on the net,

The competition part is good, in the long term. But in the short term, users are getting fucked. Google has a web store where they sell Google devices, and they don't offer Amazon devices on that store, but Google is taking Youtube off the fire stick because Amazon doesn't offer Google devices in their store. It's a classic example of Google abusing their monopoly position, and I hope they get their peepee smacked hard for it. It's unethical, it's probably illegal, and it's harming consumers. They should be

Amazon owns Twitch do not forget

[Woldscum]

Twitch recently changed and allows you to upload videos for on demand viewing. Also for a secluded playlist at a certain time.

I'm conflicted.

[Mal-2]

I'm glad someone is ready to challenge YouTube's dominance, but did it have to be Amazon? I mean, it could be worse, it could be Microsoft or Oracle or Adobe, but Amazon is pretty high up the list of Darth Vader companies.

Unfortunately, it probably did have to be someone like Amazon. The number of entities that can ramp up fast enough to truly eat YouTube's breakfast is small.

OpenTube?

[darth dickinson]

Isn't an Open Tube just a ditch?

Nope

[stolidobserver]

Can't put myself into anything that is spoken of here. It's just too unlivable. Two enemies with incredibly low shipping fight it out for the fringe audience! How will we survive? Seriously though, I can't stand politics.