YouTube has yet to make good on its promise to have anti-piracy technology ready by the end of 2006. Journalist Richard Waters pounced on the delay just two days into the new year.

"Known as a content identification system, the technology is meant to make it possible to track down copyrighted music or video on YouTube, making it the first line of defence against piracy on the wildly popular website.

YouTube's offices were closed for the New Year holidays. While providing no further details about when the system would be made formally available, it said tests of the system had been under way with some media companies since October 2005 and the system remained on track."

All the YouTube-media industry warm fuzzies could be a thing of the past. Gartner analyst Mike McGuire expects little patience for the missed deadline. "The technology industry really has to start living up to the media industry's expectations," he said. "If the delay lasts for more than a week or two into the new year, suggesting more than just a slight technical hitch, this is certainly going to be a serious issue."

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