State Government YouTube – YouTube Agrees to Modified Terms of Service after Negotiations with NASCIO

Big news for those in state government web today…

LEXINGTON, Ky., January 17, 2012 — Following lengthy discussions
involving members of the National Association of State Chief
Information Officers (NASCIO) Social Media Legal Workgroup, YouTube has
agreed to modify the terms of service exclusively for state government.
The new terms resolve a series of legal issues around indemnification
and court of jurisdiction, which posed significant risk to state
government.

NASCIO, an association devoted to state CIOs and a leading advocate for
technology policy at all levels of government, indicates the agreement
will provide state agencies with a quick adoption and safer use of
YouTube once formally approved through their state chief information
officer.

“Because of the diversity of legal frameworks that exist from state to
state, NASCIO’s negotiations with YouTube and other social media
providers proved to be longer and more difficult than expected,” said
Dugan Petty, NASCIO president and Oregon chief information officer. “We
appreciate YouTube’s patience during the discussions and their response
to the complex matter in a reasonable and government-friendly manner.”

“While use of YouTube is almost universal across state government,
provisions of the standard terms are frequently in strong conflict with
state laws and procurement guidelines, presenting significant legal
risks to states,” said Doug Robinson, NASCIO executive director “With
the amended terms struck with Facebook last year and now YouTube, we
anticipate that other social media providers will agree to make similar
modifications to their standard terms and spur adoption of these
critical tools. We offer our gratitude to both YouTube and the NASCIO
legal team for their efforts.”

For more information about the agreement, contact Charles Robb, NASCIO
senior policy analyst at [email protected].