Where does RealNetworks figure in this whole online video revolution going on? Shouldn’t it have been at the center of it all, with its pioneering efforts starting more than 12 years ago? What does Rob Glaser think about YouTube and the likes? I asked him some of these questions in an interview earlier today in Carlsbad, at the sidelines of the D conference. Glaser also launched company’s new RealPlayer which has some controversial features built in (see the earlier coverage here), and he explained the rationale behind developing these new features. He did say most of the growth of RealPlayer is coming from outside U.S.
He also commented on the ongoing Viacom-YouTube lawsuit, and his view on how it was and is best for a company like RealNetworks to stay out of that fray, and built on the technology and develops tools on top of user-generated service (like the new download functionality in the upcoming player). Lastly, he touched on his views of how the music industry is changing with DRM-free downloads and also movie industry with upcoming downloads.

The short 16-minute interview audio can be streamed below, or you can download from here (6.61 MB, 16.5 minutes).