In the latest example of an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" strategy, the members of the '70s satirical group Monty Python have launched their own YouTube site, where they have posted dozens of clips from their TV shows and movies. In a statement posted on the site, the Pythons -- John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam (another Python, Graham Chapman, died in 1989) -- said that they had stood by while "youTubers" had been "ripping us off" by posting "tens of thousands" of their videos on YouTube. "Now the tables are turned," they said. "It's time for us to take matters into our own hands. We know who you are, we know where you live and we could come after you in ways too horrible to tell. But being the extraordinarily nice chaps we are, we've figured a better way to get our own back We've launched our own Monty Python channel on YouTube." In return for posting high-quality clips from their TV shows and movies they said, they want something in return "None of your driveling, mindless comments. Instead, we want you to click on the links, buy our movies & TV shows and soften our pain and disgust at being ripped off all these years."

20/11/2008