Posted by Devin de Gruyl on Jul 15th, 2008
The talk of the Internet for the past week or so has been Viacom’s demand that Google cough up all the details about every user who’s ever watched anything on YouTube, as part of their ongoing copyright-infringement lawsuit against the ubiquitous video-sharing site.
Google has, to their credit, fought the V of Doom over this on the grounds of protecting the privacy of their registered user base.
Now, the Beeb is reporting that Viacom has “backed down” on their demand, saying that Google, while they still have to hand over the YouTube database, does not have to include any personal data that could be used to identify individual users.
This is good news for YouTube’s registered users, who now at least may not feel like they’re about to be harrassed by Viacom’s legal eagles. However, remember that this does not mean Viacom is backing down on their long-standing lawsuit against YouTube (which, in their eyes, still seemingly exists for no other reason than to infringe on copyright) – just that the PR backlash against requiring Google to reveal confidential user data has forced them to reconsider that part of their demand.
Good news for any illicit pr0n-searchers out there, and for those who keep reminding Google of their founding “Don’t Be Evil” philosophies. Bad news, perhaps, for Google itself, which still may find itself on the losing end of a messy court battle that could very well result in YouTube being shut down – or worse, falling victim to Napster’s fate. Well, I guess we should just enjoy it while it lasts…
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