Google and Amazon are fighting a silly battle right now. Or it seems ridiculous to us, the consumers, who are affected the most. Amazon has been refusing to sell Google hardware, and Google has responded by blocking YouTube access on Amazon’s line of Echo and Fire TV products.
Google can’t replicate Amazon’s huge online empire, and Amazon can’t afford to lose YouTube access on its devices. But it may be a lot easier for Amazon to create a YouTube-like service than for Google to come up with an online retail presence.
Amazon filed trademarks requests with the US Patent and Trademark Office for products called AmazonTube and OpenTube, TV Answer Man reports.
On the same day, Google announced that Amazon devices will lose YouTube access come January 1st, Amazon filed for those trademarks. This can’t be a coincidence, can it?
Amazon’s AmazonTube or OpenTube would provide “non-downloadable pre-recorded audio, visual and audiovisual works via wireless networks on a variety of topics.”
The service would also be “an on-line network services that enable users to share content, photos videos, text, data, images and other electronic works relating to entertainment, including, movies, television, audiovisual works, music, audio works, books, theatre, literary works, sporting events, recreational activities, leisure activities, tournaments, art, dance, musicals, exhibitions, sports instruction, clubs, radio, comedy, contests, visual works, games, gaming, festivals, museums, parks, cultural events, concerts, publishing, animation, current events, fashion, multimedia presentations, history, language, liberal arts, math, business, science, technology, hobbies, culture, sports, arts, psychology, and philosophy.”
Amazon has also been busy registering new domain names including AlexaOpenTube.com, AmazonAlexaTube.com, and AmazonOpenTube.com, Domain Names reveals.
It really does sound like Amazon is working on its own YouTube service. The move makes plenty of sense, considering that Amazon already operates its personal video streaming service that competes directly against Netflix, HBO, and others.
Will AmazonTube be as popular as YouTube? That seems unlikely. But at least Amazon would have an alternative for consumers for whenever Google decided to pull YouTube access.
