Social networking site MySpace has this month been valued at $580m (£311m), while the similarly popular YouTube was recently bought by Google for $1.65bn (£880m).
Both sites make extensive use of content filmed, edited and submitted by site users and their popularity has focused attention on the potential to earn revenues from user-generated content (UGC). Elsewhere, established television broadcasters are turning to UGC as a means of responding to user demand, as well as supplementing programming from traditional sources both within the conventional schedules and through associated websites.
