YouTube has been toying around with more lenient time limits over the past 6 months, but have finally decided to open the floodgates to videos of any length. The announcement sounds promising in principal, but the reality is that not everyone will actually qualify since it only applies to accounts that are free of any past copyright violations.

Avoiding copyright violations in and of itself isn’t the problem, the biggest issue we hear is from Podcasters who claim that YouTube is great at figuring out if you’re rebroadcasting content, but not so great at determining “fair use” for the purpose of commentary.

Either way this is a step in the right direction, and an amazingly bold move for a company that has to handle more video per hour then we could watch in a lifetime. Got a 2 hour video of your cat sleeping in 1080p? We think you’ll be safe with that one.

Russia may be popular for its Vodka and caviar, but its stock among the tech savvy has been going down rapidly ever since it was revealed that they are also the No. 1 source of spam in the world. Interestingly enough however this might be set to change with the apprehension of 23-year-old Oleg Nikolaenko who has been accused of spearheading operations responsible for sending over 10 billion spam emails per day.

Nikolaenko’s botnet has been referred to in legal documents as Mega-D, a network of computers that is estimated to be composed of over half a million machines. His advertising efforts have primarily been focused on Rolex counterfeits and herbal remedies, but the true scope of his operations likely won’t be fully understood until the authorities have time to review all the evidence.

According to Valleywag Nikolaenko is facing a fine of up to $250,000 and three years in prison, though a careful examination of the facts would suggest that this might be little more than a slap on the wrist. According to one of Nikolaenko’s clients he alone spent more than 2 million on spam advertising, an admission that would suggest to us that Oleg might just have a cozy little nest egg to retire on when he emerges from prison.

Does the punishment fit the crime?