http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/biztech/07/03/youtubelawsuit.ap/index.html
YouTube has become one of the world’s largest online video hosting and viewing websites in the world. As a subsidiary of Google, its current lawsuit with Viacom has become more like a $1 billion battle over copyright infringement.
Courts ordered YouTube to turn over its records of account holders to the plaintiff, Viacom, but in return, YouTube argues that it is too time-consuming to compile a list equivalent to 12 million books and would violate users anonymity rights. YouTube has requested they have time to anonymize all records before producing them in court.
As a YouTube viewer, I can see both sides of the argument. On one hand, I would not feel comfortable knowing my name and IP address have been turned over to the courts, but on the other hand, I would not be concerned as I do not use YouTube for illegal means. If the courts merely want to know if users view copyrighted materials more than they do amateur clips, I feel that anonymous logs of videos viewed would be more suitable than personal user information. When the case in matter is about YouTube ‘willfully’ infringing on copyrighted material, YouTube should be required to produce records of how often videos have been viewed, rather than who views them and when they were viewed.
Viacom is not looking for individuals posting and viewing copyrighted material, so personal information should not be in question. It seems irrelevant for this court case in particular. If Viacom decides to pursue legal action against the posters of illegal and/or copyrighted materials, then personal information should be called into question. For example, in another case against internet pornography, Google and other search engines were ordered to turn over records and lists of requests made by users. Once again, if the case in question is searching for individuals looking for illegal subject matter, such as child pornography online, user information is relevant. If it is merely a case of Google’s aiding in illegal activity, I find private information irrelevant, and the courts should stick to the ease of access and how often an illegal request was made, not by whom.
As viewer of YouTube, I applaud them for their anonymity concerns. Until the courts begin looking for and cracking down on the individuals posting illegal or copyrighted material, there is no need for all users private information to be disclosed.
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