Tuesday, May 27, 2008

You Tube & Net freedom threatened

Viacom is suing You Tube for 1 billion dollars because You Tube did not manage to rid it site of unauthorized video. These include TV programs and other stuff, like the documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth' which was viewed 1.5 billion times. But what are the ramifications of this case if Viacom wins? Will You Tube be forced to shut down? OMG!!! I hope not! I need my cooking shows and my gag shows and my 'how-to' videos!!

A one billion dollar lawsuit against YouTube threatens internet freedom, according to its owner Google. Google's claim follows Viacom's move to sue the video sharing service for its inability to keep copyrighted material off its site.

Viacom says it has identified 150,000 unauthorised clips on YouTube.

In court documents Google's lawyers say the action "threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information" over the web. The search giant's legal team also maintained that YouTube had been faithful to the requirements of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act and that they responded properly to claims of infringement. In papers submitted to a Manhattan court, Google said it and YouTube "goes far beyond its legal obligations in assisting content owners to protect their works".

Viacom disagreed that either firm had lived up to that standard and said that they had done "little or nothing" to stop infringement. (BBC)

No comments: