Google, Viacom, user data deal
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- User anonymity is key and vital online and with that in mind, Google has struck a deal with Viacom in the $1 billion copyright court case brought by the latter against the former’s YouTube.
Under it, “Google will make user information and internet protocol addresses from its YouTube subsidiary anonymous before handing over the data to Viacom in the US legal case,” says The Guardian.
Judge Louis L. Stanton ordered Google to release, “every YouTube username, the associated IP address and the videos that user has watched on YouTube”.
Viacom figured this could help it prove GooTube was, and is, facilitating copyright infringement.
“Viacom, the media company that owns TV channels including MTV and Comedy Central and the Paramount film studio, had demanded the information so it could conduct a detailed examination of the viewing habits of millions of YouTube users around the world,” says The Guardian, going on:
“The agreement that Google has struck also applies to other litigants pursuing YouTube user information over copyright claims in a class action that includes the FA Premier League, the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organisation and the Scottish Premier League.”
Says Reuters:
“Viacom said at the time that it needed the data to demonstrate video piracy patterns that are the heart of its case against YouTube. But it sought to diffuse privacy fears, saying it had no interest in identifying individual users.
“One outstanding disagreement between the two parties is on how to handle the YouTube viewership data of YouTube and Google employees, which Judge Stanton also had ordered YouTube to turn over as part of the July 1 ruling covering YouTube consumers.”
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The Guardian – Google and Viacom reach deal over YouTube user data, July 15, 2008
Reuters – Lawyers in YouTube lawsuit reach user privacy deal, July 15, 2008
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July 15th, 2008 at 9:07 am
“But it sought to diffuse privacy fears, saying it had no interest in identifying individual users.”
I just hacked into someone’s computer and downloaded all their private information without their knowledge or consent. But I have absolutely no interest in using it to commit identity theft.