Periscope

Local fan shares videos online

by Helen Cheng

Copyright infringements on video-sharing websites based in foreign countries may go unpunished as copyright owners and the government can hardly use local laws to bring any breaches to court. [more]

Mr Chan, who is a secretary, said he tried to be careful not to put himself into any trouble on the copyright issue.

“I enjoy watching online videos and want to share the happiness with others,” he said.

He has started uploading videos that he took or made by his friends since last year. “I used to upload videos of TVB, but I don’t dare to do that now. I am afraid that they will take legal actions. That’s why I have deleted the TVB videos on my site,” he said. As for video made by foreign producers, Mr Chan said they could not be traced back to the users.

Videos on his website are mainly clips of pranks, entertainment shows, magic performances and songs. For example, there is one video about what babies, children, adults and even pets do in the bathroom.

Unlike video-sharing websites, Mr Chan’s site is solely run by himself. Video owners and collectors have to send the clips to him, and he will decide which videos to be posted on the site.

The 39-year-old online video enthusiast founded his website in mid-2004. “I watched an online video accidentally on a website. I found that it’s funny,” he said.

He then started to search and watch online videos regularly. He also asked his friend to design a website for him to share videos with others.

So far, his website carries more than 500 videos. About 7,000 to 8,000 viewers visit his website everyday on average.

Back in the second half of 2005, about 35,000 viewers browsed his site on a daily basis. “That’s the peak time of my website, but the number (of visitors) has reduced since,” Mr Chan said.

He claimed many of his viewers had shifted to YouTube after the popular clip of the “Bus Uncle” incident was shown on the international video-sharing website. He also blamed himself for being too busy to keep his site updated to attract more audience.

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Jumbo Chan Wai-tak's site carries over 500 videos.