Google Lawyers Look to Hide YouTube-User Identification By JESSICA E. VASCELLARO and MERISSA MARR July 4, 2008 6:57 a.m.Lawyers for Google Inc. Thursday asked Viacom Inc. for permission to better hide information that might help personally identify YouTube users before Google complies with a judge's demand that it hand over YouTube "user logs" -- the records of what videos people watch -- to Viacom.
The letter comes a day after a federal judge in New York ordered Google to give Viacom a database that links users of YouTube -- a Google unit -- with every video clip they have ever watched through the service in conjunction with Viacom's $1 billion copyright suit against Google.
A Viacom spokesman said Thursday that the data the company has requested from Google don't identify users personally and "will be used exclusively for the purpose of proving our case against YouTube and Google." He added that the data "will be handled subject to a court protective order and in a highly confidential manner."
Viacom is seeking the data in order to bolster its copyright claims against YouTube and Google. In particular, Viacom is seeking to determine how often its copyright-protected videos are watched compared with other amateur content on YouTube. That data could bear on the plaintiffs' argument that their copyright-protected content helps draw users to YouTube, leading to a financial benefit for Google. ...
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A book in progress by
Siva Vaidhyanathan
This blog, the result of a collaboration between myself and the Institute for the Future of the Book, is dedicated to exploring the process of writing a critical interpretation of the actions and intentions behind the cultural behemoth that is Google, Inc. The book will answer three key questions: What does the world look like through the lens of Google?; How is Google's ubiquity affecting the production and dissemination of knowledge?; and how has the corporation altered the rules and practices that govern other companies, institutions, and states? [more]
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Like the Mind of God (57 posts)
All the World's Information (75 posts)
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Is Google a Library? (84 posts)
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The Dossier (49 posts)
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A Public Utility? (37 posts)
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Comments (1)
Hi All:
If you've ever watched a video on YouTube, you should know that Viacom could identify you through this data. This order opens the door for corporations to use our private records at their will and without our consent. Tell Google to defy the court ruling and to refuse to hand over our records to Viacom. Sign this petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/912395622?z00m=15670232