“Google is pulling its popular YouTube video service from Amazon’s Fire TV and Echo Show devices in an escalating feud that has caught consumers in the crossfire,” The New York Post reports.
“The decision to block YouTube is retaliation for Amazon’s refusal to sell some Google products that compete with Amazon gadgets,” the story reports. “That includes Google’s Chromecast streaming device, an alternative to Fire TV, and an internet-connected speaker called Home, which is trying to catch up to Amazon’s market-leading Echo. Amazon’s high-end Echo Show has a screen that can display video.”
In a statement released Tuesday, Google said: “Given this lack of reciprocity, we are no longer supporting YouTube on Echo Show and Fire TV.”
The report adds: “Google is hoping to pressure Amazon into selling Google’s products by taking away access to the world’s most widely watched video service. Unless a truce is reached, YouTube will stop working on Fire TV on Jan. 1. YouTube was supposed to disappear from the Echo Show Tuesday, although Amazon has previously found ways to make unauthorized versions of YouTube available on that device.”
Let’s see . . . Google supports Net Neutrality but they are going to block YouTube from Amazon devices. Isn’t that a little hypocritical. Net Neutrality is all about NOT BLOCKING or hindering consumer access to the internet and services on the internet like YouTube.
And just wait until net neutrality is gone. This will be a petty squabble in comparison.