Posted by Devin de Gruyl on Mar 14th, 2007
Students of ’80s syndicated television will no doubt remember the infamous closing logo for shows distributed by Viacom, the so-called “V of Doom”; a block-letter “V” that slowly zoomed in from a tiny dot in the center of the screen to almost burst out of the TV, to the tune of some decidedly apocalyptic music. If you were a little kid in the early ’80s and you saw this thing, you can understand how it could be the stuff nightmares were made of.
It’s been over twenty years since Viacom last used the V of Doom, but their latest actions are almost as nightmarish — and definitely far more evil — than their old logo could ever hope to be.
Yesterday, Viacom sued Google for an astounding $1 billion (USD), citing that their still-freshly acquired YouTube is nothing but an enabler of copyright infringement. The industry giant, now owned by CBS, had previously ordered over 160,000 clips of Viacom-owned properties (including South Park, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report) pulled from the popular streaming-video website, and this lawsuit apparently came about after Google/YouTube, in Viacom’s estimation, failed to implement adequate filters to prevent copyrighted content from being posted.
Why Viacom is trying to sue Google/YouTube rather than — as other content providers have already done — working with them to utilize YouTube as a viable promotional tool is unclear, but one thing is certain: With this potentially high-profile copyright case now in the works, the honeymoon may be over for YouTube in particular and the free distribution of video files over the Internet in general. Some insiders are already comparing YouTube’s current plight with Viacom to the infamous RIAA-vs.-Napster case of years past, and how Napster’s “settlement” essentially signed their own death certificate. It may be too much of a doomsaying tactic to suggest YouTube would be headed down the same path as Napster, but given how much the US legal system currently tends to favor media conglomerates and Big Business, it’s certainly a possibility.
This will definitely be a case to keep an eye on.
Posted in geek
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