The New York Times reports today that, in prepartion for the giant Google takeover (maybe you heard about it?), YouTube has started purging clips. This time, though, it's clips we actually care about: The beloved Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert clips that whip around the internet on blogs and rack up thousands of views daily. The Times reports that Comedy Central finally got around to sending YouTube a cease and desist letter (the kind that NBC got used to sending after "Lazy Sunday" broke).

From the Times:

The situation is tricky for a network like Comedy Central, part of Viacom. Its audience is young and technologically sophisticated, and Comedy Central stars in the past have used YouTube and clip services to interact with their audience.

No kidding. The Times cites the obvious in Colbert's White House Correspondents Dinner, which caught fire on YouTube before C-Span had it removed (though its still easy to find on the site, for example here).

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