IP Democracy: Does YouTube on iPhone Conflict With AT&T's Rules?

OK, so I’m very confused about Apple’s announcement today that YouTube videos will be viewable on the iPhone via Wi-Fi or EDGE networks. (The videos are viewable today via AppleTV). Apple has designed an application that will wirelessly stream YouTube videos now that YouTube has been encoding their videos to the H.264 format.

I get that the videos will be viewable via Wi-Fi, but EDGE? That’s the wireless standard that partner AT&T deploys. And AT&T has a hard and fast rule: no streaming video on its handsets that it doesn’t specifically condone.

In fact, it’s all-CAPS prohibited use in the standard user agreement:

EXCEPT FOR CONTENT FORMATTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH AT&T’S WIRELESS CONTENT STANDARDS, UNLIMITED PLANS CANNOT BE USED FOR UPLOADING, DOWNLOADING OR STREAMING OF VIDEO CONTENT (E.G. MOVIES, TV), MUSIC OR GAMES. FURTHERMORE, UNLIMITED PLANS (EXCEPT FOR DATACONNECT AND BLACKBERRY TETHERED) CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY APPLICATIONS THAT TETHER THE DEVICE (THROUGH USE OF, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, CONNECTION KITS, OTHER PHONE/PDA-TO-COMPUTER ACCESSORIES, BLUETOOTH OR ANY OTHER WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY) TO LAPTOPS, PCS, OR OTHER EQUIPMENT FOR ANY PURPOSE.

Does Apple’s announcement that YouTube will be available over EDGE networks means that AT&T is changing its ban on streamed video? Or does it meant that YouTube’s videos meet AT&T’s wireless content standard? Is AT&T a partner in this effort? Will users be billed for data usage minutes when they watch YouTube videos?

I’ve asked the Apple PR people about this (forget about getting in touch with the AT&T PR people today — NXTcomm is sucking all the oxygen out of that company), but, as usual, don’t expect a response any time soon, if ever.

If I hear back, I’ll let you know.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on June 20, 2007 10:16 AM to IP Democracy