Our Multimedia Tack on YouTube/Viacom Fight
The fireworks got started early for privacy advocates today after a judge told YouTube to hand over its users’ viewing habits in its copyright infringement battle with Viacom.
YouTube, owned by Google, will have to cough up records of every video watched by YouTube users along with their login names and IP addresses.
Kurt Opsahl, a senior attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, was outraged.
“The court's erroneous ruling is a set-back to privacy rights, and will allow Viacom to see what you are watching on YouTube,” Opsahl wrote on his blog. “We urge Viacom to back off this overbroad request and Google to take all steps necessary to challenge this order and protect the rights of its users.”
The discovery order (.pdf) comes in a very closely watched copyright case in which Viacom is accusing YouTube of infringing its copyrights by allowing its movies and TV shows to be uploaded to the site. Viacom wants at least $1 billion in damages. (What’s that? You wish you could enjoy an inspiring house music montage summary of the lawsuit? Today’s your lucky day!)
New York federal Judge Louis Stanton didn’t grant all of Viacom’s discovery requests — far from it. He ruled that Google didn’t have to turn over its search source code or its source code for its Video Identification Tool that helps notify Google of copyright infringement. (What? Does the Electronic Freedom Foundation have something to say about that, and is it presented in a clever online video? You’re two for two!)
The EFF’s Opsahl claims that the judge’s order violates the Video Privacy Protection Act, which was passed after an enterprising reporter published then-Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork’s video rental records.
Following the uproar from folks like Opsahl, Viacom and Google rushed to reassure uneasy YouTube users, saying no individuals would be identified by the discovery.
"Viacom has not asked for and will not be obtaining any personally identifiable information of any user," a public statement from Viacom reads. "Any information that we or our outside advisors obtain — which will not include personally identifiable information — will be used exclusively for the purpose of proving our case against YouTube and Google, will be handled subject to a court protective order and in a highly confidential manner."
Legal Pad gave Greenberg Traurig partner Ian Ballon, who’s also executive director of Stanford University Law School's Center for E-Commerce, a ring to get his take on the privacy issues and e-discovery. Ballon told us that the right to privacy in discovery isn’t ironclad.
“It’s a right that’s often balanced against other rights in discovery,” Ballon said. “Most privacy issues are decided under common law rules that are more amorphous than property rights and in most cases courts look to reasonable expectations of privacy.”
Huh? You wish YouTube users would talk about Viacom’s behavior in its copyright enforcement efforts? In an online video format? It’s like you’re magic! This one’s fresh (an hour old, as we post this). This one’s got a really funny story about legal chutzpah. And this one has bad synth music. This one’s got all of the above, except the middle thing, but it is casually vulgar, all in 11 seconds! Post your own video on YouTube, or just comment below …
— Zusha Elinson
With your name and viewing history, Viacom can sue you just for accidentally clicking through to an MTV clip on YouTube.
Viacom versus YouTube just became Viacom versus you.
Posted by: Mike Abundo | July 03, 2008 at 09:30 PM
You mean, eep, we might actually have to take responsibility for our actions?
If this country wasn't so caught up in making and breaking social taboos, people might learn to love themselves, others, and we might have
Peace.
Posted by: Daniel Edlen | July 13, 2008 at 03:45 PM