Mitt Romney’s Foreign-Policy Etiquette Still Needs Some Work

While not exactly an Olympic-sized gaffe, Mitt Romney managed to lay the groundwork for some potential issues with another major United States ally. During his speech at a Thursday fund-raiser, the Republican candidate remarked, "We are not Japan. We are not going to be a nation that suffers in decline and distress for a decade or a century."

As Foreign Policy's The Cable points out, the line could be interpreted as "needlessly insulting the face-conscious Japanese," particularly since Japan analysts (Japanalysts?) say the assertion that the country has been in decline for a century "isn't a fair characterization," considering the immense economic strides the country made following World War II. A former spokesman for the Japanese Foreign Ministry explained that, while the Japanese are somewhat used to being cited as a cautionary tale, Romney would be better off if he didn't seem to think "decade" and "century" were interchangeable.

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Democratic Party Adds Gay Marriage to Platform, Still No Word on Federal Law

Just four years ago, the Democratic presidential candidates were divided on whether or not same-sex marriage should be legalized. Now in another sign of how quickly the party has "evolved" on the issue, the Democratic Party plans to include support for gay unions in its official party platform, which will be formally approved during the convention. While the party is hoping the move will invigorate its base (not to mention wealthy donors), there's concern that it will hurt Democrats in more conservative areas of the country. Plus, it's unclear if the platform will actually present specific steps for promoting marriage equality across the country.

Today Rep. Barney Frank, who sits on the party's drafting committee, told the Washington Blade that a platform including a gay marriage plank had been unanimously approved by a 15-member panel at a weekend hearing in Minneapolis. An anonymous Democratic National Committee staffer said that the current version includes a rejection of Defense of Marriage Act and positive language on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The platform is still in the draft stage, and may change before it's presented in September.

LGBT activists are praising the move, but some in the party are concerned that it could backfire. It's likely to complicate the races for Democrats facing tough battles in red-leaning states, including Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri,  Senator Jon Tester of Montana, and Tim Kaine, who's running for Senate in Virginia. It may also wind up energizing supporters of traditional marriage more than those who support same-sex unions.

The shift wouldn't have been possible if President Obama hadn't supported same-sex marriage two months ago. As the New York Times notes, the 2008 platform contained similar language opposing DOMA, but it had to stop short of supporting gay marriage, since candidate Obama was only in favor of civil unions. President Obama still says the issue should be left for the states to decide, as they've been doing. Gay marriage is legal in six states and will be voted on in three more states in November. North Carolina recently passed an amendment banning same-sex unions, which should make for an awkward convention in the state.

The move marks the first time a major party has come out in favor of same-sex marriage, and is certainly significant step toward bringing gay rights into the mainstream. However, it's possible that like President Obama's announcement, this will be more of a symbolic victory. Democrats are hoping that once again, announcing their general support for gay marriage will give the party both a morale and a fund-raising boost. There's no word on whether the final version might include support for a federal law to allow gay marriage, but since President Obama has yet to come out in favor of such a measure, it seems unlikely.

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YouTube Goes Global, but Ad Revenues Still Not Good

DOWNLOAD VIRAL VIDEOS IN JAPANESE AND FRENCH!

YouTube recently announced that web site users in Brazil, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Great Britain will now have the ability to visit YouTube locally and get all the information regarding the YouTube videos in their native languages. The chief financial officer of YouTube, Steve Chen, stated that these individual countries will now have a local version of YouTube that will allow them to access a central database of videos as well as show them how their own country is ranking certain videos as opposed to the American version of video-ranking.

150 content partners have already been contacted by YouTube so that they will be able to supply YouTube with various sports and entertainment clips from various companies such as the BBC, France 24 and the Real Madrid Spanish soccer team. This new international touch to YouTube was made possible when Google bought the video-sharing behemoth in November of 2006. Google had the financial backing and resources that allowed such an international transaction to take place.

MORE AD REVENUE MUST BE FOUND TO BRING YOUTUBE INTO THE BLACK

Without a clear ad revenue structure that YouTube is in desperate need of to ensure great financial rewards after Google paid $1.6 billion for the site back in 2006. That is a very heft bill that Google must somehow find a way to recover within the next few years, or this will always be the fly in the ointment as far as Google's huge success goes.

Most analysts agree that Google bought YouTube to help them generate more ad revenue internationally not in just a few months, but for the long term, maybe not excpecting to recoup the $1.6 billion for at least eight to ten years. YouTube currently is also embroiled in a massive lawsuit brought on by the entertainment industry who insists that users who upload copyrighted material should be penalized at best and put in jail at the worst, and YouTube should take take all copyrighted material immediately.

VIACOM NOT AMUSED AT YOUTUBE ANTICS

The main entertainment lawsuit involves Viacom, who own MTV and Comedy Central, among other televison production companies. They believe that when YouTube subscribers upload episodes of South Park and the Daily Show, YouTube should automatically shut down the video feed so that no one will be able to see these episodes for free.

YouTube contends that there is already in place a database software engine that can discern copyrighted material from non-copyrighted material and they have set aside more than $200 million for legal fees to fight Viacom's $1 billion lawsuit. This is certainly not a time for the owners of YouTube to be rejoicing in celebration of international success as this legal fight will take some time to recover from. YouTube is also facing Europe's more rigorous terrain when it comes to regulating videos in international waters as well.

This more scrutinezed look at YouTube's copyrighted material from the European government does not bode well for YouTube's future success.

Rob Mead has written many articles about internet marketing and how to create and find great website content that will increase your web site's traffic overnight. Go to http://www.perfectwebcontent.com and you will be able to use all of the web site's resources and articles in your quest for internet success.

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