YouTube 'shuts down to judge winner'

YouTube says it will no longer accept entries and is preparing to shut down to begin judging the winner of best video. Source: YouTube

YouTube has entered into the spirit of April Fool's Day with a clip saying the site will no longer be accepting videos. Source: Supplied

VIDEO-sharing site YouTube has released a video declaring it is shutting down and will no longer be accepting videos.

The video coincides - not surprisingly -  with April Fools' Day.

The company teamed with satirical news site The Onion to create a the three-and-half-minute clip, titles YouTube's ready to select a winner,  which explains how the site was set up as part of a contest to find the best home video on the Internet, Mashable reports.

"We are so close to the end," Tom Liston, communications director at YouTube, said in the video.

"Tonight at midnight, YouTube.com will no longer be accepting entries. After eight amazing years, it's finally time to review everything that has been uploaded to our site and begin the process of selecting a winner."

The video explains how a cast of jusges will then spend the next 10 years judging the thousands of clips uploaded in the past eight years to choose a winner.

There follows a series of  cameos from YouTube luminaries, including  Antoine Dodson, David After Dentist and Charlie and his brother (from the video "Charlie Bit My Finger" video), who are all in on the joke.

YouTube CEO Salar Kamangar said that ``we started YouTube in 2005 as a contest with a simple goal: to find the best video in the world.''

Users have uploaded more than 70 hours every minute to the site, YouTube estimated.

"I encourage everybody to watch as many videos as possible before YouTube deletes everything tonight,'' said Antoine Dodson, who became an internet sensation when a musical version of his 2010 TV interview about a house intrusion was posted on YouTube
.
"Distinguished'' film critics, YouTube celebrities and some of the site's "`most prolific'' commentators are on the judges' panel, according to Liston.

The Google-owned online video sharing venue said less than two weeks ago that more than a billion people now use YouTube each month, with viewing on smartphones helping drive growth.

The YouTube team noted that nearly one out of every two people on the internet visits the website, which has grown into a global hit since its launch.

Google bought YouTube in 2006 for $US1.65 billion and has yet to disclose whether the service has turned a profit.

YouTube has gradually added professional content, such as full-length television shows and movies to its vast trove of amateur video offerings in a bid to attract advertisers.

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Former WA judge slams mandatory jail

Former WA Supreme Court judge Michael Murray believes mandatory sentencing doesn't deter violent offenders. Picture: Richard Polden Source: PerthNow

MANDATORY sentencing removes judicial discretion and does not deter violent offenders, a former West Australian Supreme Court judge says.

Justice Michael Murray retired in January last year after 22 years as a judge and was recently appointed the parliamentary inspector of the state's Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC), responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct.

He has long been a vocal opponent of mandatory sentencing, writing and delivering several papers on the issue.
Justice Murray said mandatory sentencing removed the ``guided exercise of discretion'' by an experienced judicial officer such as a magistrate or a judge.

"Any sentencing exercise involves a considerable difficulty in exercising discretionary judgment by mixing a very complicated web of relevant factors concerned with the seriousness of the crime and the nature of the offender that you're dealing with,'' he told ABC radio.

"If you impose a requirement for mandatory sentencing, it takes no time at all before the court comes up against a difficulty which shows that the need to impose the mandatory punishment simply creates injustice that otherwise would have been avoided by the proper exercise of discretion.''

Justice Murray said he did not believe mandatory sentencing was a deterrent for criminals and the laws were merely a political reaction to crime.

WA has mandatory jail terms for assaults against police, ambulance officers, transit guards, court security officers, prison officers and drivers who kill or injure anyone while fleeing police.

In the lead-up to the March 9 election, the Liberals have proposed broader mandatory sentencing so that burglars who physically or sexually assault residents will be jailed for minimum terms from three to 15 years.

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