If you were off the grid last week celebrating the July 4th holiday, there were some important fireworks in the ongoing Viacom -- Google/YouTube litigation you may have missed -- even though you’re not likely to miss the aftershocks.
Judge Louis Stanton of the U.S. District Court in New York, who is presiding over the litigation, handed down an opinion that granted and denied some of what each party was requesting. The opinion is here. I have read it and below is my synopsis (remember I'm not a lawyer):
Table 1: The Latest Ruling
Viacom motion
Opinion
1
Production of Google's search code to support Viacom's allegation that Google/YouTube modified its code to faciliate the location of Viacom's infringed content
Denied
2
Production of Google/YouTube's "Video ID" code to support Viacom's allegation that Google/YouTube could have done more to control infringement
Denied
3
Copies of all videos once available on YouTube, but later removed, to help Viacom identify which of them infringe their copyrights
Granted
4
Production of YouTube's "Logging" database, which includes user's unique login ID, time each video was watched, IP address, and the video's identifier, all to help Viacom compare the attractiveness of allegedly infringed videos with that of non-infringed videos
Granted
5
Production of "User" and "Mono" databases, which include information about all YouTube videos, including user-supplied title and keywords, public comments, whether it was flagged as inappropriate, whether administrative action was taken in response, whether user who posted it was terminated -- all to help Viacom, among other things, to find further evidence that Google/YouTube knew or should have known about the infringing activity
Denied
6
Production of the Google Advertising Schema to help Viacom show what Google/YouTube could have known about how their ad revenues were associated with infringing content
Denied
7
Production of Google Video Schema to help Viacom show that Google/YouTube were aware of infringements and had the ability to control these infringements
Granted
8
Production of all copies of videos marked "Private" but which may have been shared with the public while evading detection by content owners, to help Viacom properly argue their construction of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act
Denied, except to extent of providing "non-content" data about these videos
The fourth item is the one that has attracted the most attention and controversy. Privacy advocates are ballistic that granting access to YouTube’s database is a violation of users' privacy rights. A cottage industry of ridicule has broken out across the blogosphere regarding whether the 80-year-old Judge Stanton is sufficiently tech literate to grasp online privacy concerns. Many believe Viacom will use the data to sue individual users for viewing pirated copies of Viacom's programs on YouTube.
Like everyone else, I'm concerned about privacy and recognize that Judge Stanton has moved this case into some very slippery territory. Yet, at a higher level, I'm feeling some resentment toward Google and YouTube, especially given Google’s famous "do no evil" mantra.
There is no question that these companies knew pirated versions of key programs from Viacom (and others) were showing up on YouTube, yet months went by without them candidly addressing the issue and doing something sufficiently proactive about it. As a result, YouTube’s users -- courtesy of Judge Stanton’s decision -- have been dragged into this morass. That’s a real problem for everyone. I for one believe that when we use various Websites, there is an implicit and explicit understanding that our privacy will be aggressively safeguarded.
While sites have a right to defend their business practices based on their interpretation of the existing laws, they need to balance this by considering what impact their actions may ultimately have on their users. Each of us has our own interpretation of what Google/YouTube could have or should have done to protect Viacom's and others' copyrights. But Judge Stanton's decision shows that the extent of YouTube users' privacy protection is now entirely up to his interpretation.
With the other issue of telecommunication spying and the law that grants immunity to telecom operators, I wonder why Google hasn't gotten some of that? I guess Verizon and AT&T have better lobbyists!
Will, you’ve hit upon a number of interesting points in you post.I think the fundamental question is who owns what and how is it protected on the Internet.Unfortunately, this issue will not be quickly or easily resolved.
I think we’re going to see more of these issues pop up in the near future.They will involve the legal system and will focus on issues of private vs. public domain.Increasingly, judges will be expected to rule on such issues even when they don’t have the knowledge, experience and training they need to do so.Such rulings will be made based on questions of whom owns what intellectual property and how is it protected in cyberspace?Even more critical issues to be decided are around safety and security of all Internet users.
There are now over 1 billion people on the Internet, and most of these are from countries other than the United States.When you cross cultural and country boundaries, I think these issues get even more difficult.
As I said, this isn’t the last time you’ll see these issues surface.
One aspect of the ruling I find interesting is the implication that users may be responsible for having trusted a Web site to keep their identities private, even if both the supplier and the user were aware of the potential for copyright infringement or some other lurking liability.
Another blogger, Andrew Keen, doesn't let anyone off the hook for this:
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Smarter Collaboration: How to Thrive in a Challenging Business Environment Market conditions are changing faster than ever, and organizations need to improve their agility and adaptability in order to provide better service and improve processes. The ability to work with customers, business partners, and employees as effectively as possible - while at the same time holding down costs - is a key to success. READ THIS eBOOK
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In the final episode of this series about the death of Internet anonymity, Saunders describes how the Internet of the future will start to attain a level of intelligence that requires no human intervention. Scary.
What can users today do to protect their online privacy? The simplest and most obvious option is to not use the Internet – at all. However, once all digital information is consolidated over the Internet, trying to protect digital identity by simply unplugging from the Internet becomes impossible – a fact that has manifest implications for civil liberties, Saunders says.
By 2011 the number of Internet-connected sensors will exceed 1 trillion, making your chances of doing anything or going anywhere unnoticed pretty much zero. Saunders talks about how the 'sensortization' of the Internet is eliminating the traditional divide between online and offline populations.
The 20th Century Internet was characterized by the ability to interact with other people and information on the Internet largely without anyone knowing who you were. The Internet of this century, conversely, will be defined by identity. Saunders explains how Internet users are unwittingly contributing to the demise of the anonymous Internet.
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The US loses about $20 billion a year on pirated software, movies, and music. But public policy can help stem the tide of digital theft. For example, France has recently passed a 'three strikes and you’re out' law, whereby if after two warning letters an individual continues to download pirated software then his Internet access will be cut off. US policy makers should consider adopting similar policies.
Financial management planning does not need to include Voodoo economics, but it does help to tap into the knowledge base of your team through some sort of real-time system. We explore your options.
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