Lots of news about video technology this morning. First off, Google says it will test a system to block unauthorized videos from being uploaded to its YouTube site. Site partners like Disney and Time Warner are on board. Thank God! Now we can all enjoy legitimately uploaded fare such as (just taking a quick glance at the site here) music videos starring an apparently tipsy French president Nicolas Sarkozy at the G8 summit; people sticking their fingers in light sockets (it’s just a prank, and sooo old); and primers on “How to watch movies online for free,” featuring URLs which Disney and Time Warner might want to investigate. Meanwhile, we read this headline in The Hollywood Reporter: Netflix rocked by new plans from Blockbuster. Isn’t it a bit late to be going back to VHS? I guess VCR penetration is still pretty good, so maybe they know what they’re doing. Oh wait, my bad. Blockbuster isn’t bringing back tapes, they’re offering a cheaper DVD delivery service. I still haven’t returned that Beethoven’s 2nd cassette I rented back in ’98. The fines are piling up, so maybe I’ll wait until they offer some kind of amnesty program.

—Posted by David Gianatasio