Youtube ordered to hand over private info to Viacom

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Permalink Reply by J.J on July 3, 2008 at 2:10pm

I think that "old school" businessman are still failing to see the power of the Internet and YouTube. For example if you see part of an episode of some series on You Tube you may just become a fan and watch it all, and since videos are short then it's ok because its not the whole show. Ok, but that is not legal yet, still some content is posted on the web by the main authors showing that they believe the World Wide Web is a good vehicle for information and entertainment. I wonder if the Judge or if the Viacom lawyers have any idea of the power the internet has and how they can use it to play in their favor instead of labeling as "THE ENEMY".

The only thing i can see in this is what i read in a book named Funky Business (written in 1999), it said something like this: Internet will bring change and you have to accept it and use it, also some "old" business man will like to keep the status quo, but that is not the answer."

I guess this 2 authors were right, people in comfortable positions will in fact defend their old ways in which they feel safe. Sadly maybe no one will watch their products or they will have a reduction in viewers that will lead to people losing their jobs, because of their failure to adapt to the internet times.

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Permalink Reply by LunarEffect on July 3, 2008 at 2:41pm

Yeah, good quote there, very clairvoyant of the current situation.

For me, if I hear a song on youtube that I like I HAVE to add it to my CD collection. I will hunt it down in online shops, no matter how long it takes me and I'm willing to pay quite a lot for something that moves me. Personaly I think youtube saves the companies marketing costs....its like a free place to advertise your goods...and millions get to see it!
I don't even think that these bosses fail to see the potential, I think you can make a lot more money sueing people who..."steal" copyrighted material off the internet for every last penny they have, while still harvesting new customers through free online advertisement. =(

I wonder what Viacom is planning on doing with the info they get from youtube though. I really hope they don't start a massive wave a lawsuits against people responsible for copyrighted material on youtube...but then again, perhaps that would wake the people up to not let people mess with their privacy rights.

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Permalink Reply by Rettocs on July 8, 2008 at 4:09pm

The sad reality is that we have to look at both sides of the spectrum.

Sure it may help some companies gain money, and the occasional person may start watching a certain program now, just because they saw it on youtube, but from my POV, it is actually different. I know tons of people who refuse to subscribe to cable because they can see all of their shows online (youtube or other). I have seen this time and time again, way more often than the event of someone tuning in because of something they found on youtube.

Mind you, I don't like it either, I am for Net Neutrality, and I don't like the fact that our personal info is being passed around like my filthy sister, but don't act like they don't have a cause, because they do. It is just flawed.

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Permalink Reply by Joshua on July 9, 2008 at 11:31pm

1984 Anyone?

Actually you could take out your anger and passion for net neutrality like this guy on youtube

or you could be a little more pro-active and contact your congress person.
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

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Permalink Reply by LunarEffect on July 10, 2008 at 6:40am

Interesting video!... I agree with the part about the class action lawsuit! Seriously...this SHOULD be a scandal, but it has hardly received any kind of press-coverage...at least here in Europe. I think most people don't even care enough to do anything about it.

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Permalink Reply by Patrick on July 10, 2008 at 2:43pm

i think its invasion of privacy!!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Atwood on July 10, 2008 at 3:19pm

I don't see why this info is useful. You can tell by video views which pirated videos are popular. Why would anyone need the personal info?

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Permalink Reply by LunarEffect on July 10, 2008 at 5:15pm

My best guess is...they want to sue. ><</body>

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Permalink Reply by Uncle PretzelFlash on July 10, 2008 at 3:36pm

Nobody should subscribe for cable, throw that indoctrinating TV out of the window. All information must be freely accessable streaming and/or downloadable. Everything,including music and movies. They want to brainwash us, and make money out of it too.

I hope less people will watch those brainwashing nonsense MTv shows and start digging for independant artists. They should just go ahead, if they feel that they must, and take their rafty sjiit out of youtube, and stop trying to pollute our minds!

AAAAARRRH (expression of anger)

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Permalink Reply by LunarEffect on July 10, 2008 at 8:30pm

Fortunately or unfortunately they can only pollute our minds as far as we let them. Meaning there are people like you, who actually think about what they are watching and those that just want to be entertained all the time and don't waste a thought on the information they are fed. These are the type of people who don't care about their privacy rights or the patriot act, since it doesn't affect them in a way they notice.
We do, however, have a choice in what we watch. There are enough independent sources of information and arts, that just want to be heard. These are the type of artists I support in any way I can (visit/watch their shows, buy their cds). We have some government-funded TV stations here that produce their own shows and broadcast high-quality news...similar to the BBC. I pay a small fee each month to be able to watch this at home. This is the type of information I am willing to pay for, since a lot of people put a lot of work into presenting and gathering it (though I do usually check the news that interests me on the internet as well).
The best way for a consumer to control the market is to very carefuly select the products he/she buys. Choose wisely, people =P

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Permalink Reply by J.J on July 12, 2008 at 3:34pm

This idea just came to me. Viacom can make their "study" of what videos are the most watched by just checking on the amount of views, not in the IP adresses or the user that watched that video. You can go to a Epic Fu episode and see how many people watched it and go to a Copyright protected video still online and do the same. So why give them all the rest of information, the purpose they claim for that matter is invalid.

I guess the judge does not know how to rule on internet cases because he doesn't know or use the internet. I don't know if he can get expert advice in this, but i think he should.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Gowdy on July 12, 2008 at 10:16pm

Very true. What's more, Viacom wouldn't need a court order to get the data. They could just get access to abuse the YouTube API and pull the necessary data. Though the absolute accuracy of the data is going to be relative as some people watch videos multiple times, so I think that's why their going after IP addresses so they can sort out dupes.

The judge is old enough where there might be a disconnect with the advent of newer media and programming. When he passed his bar exam, punch cards were being used to store computer data.

I'm sure the EFF can supply experts as well as any industry professional not being paid off by a major company. Whether the judge would have allowed it is another story.

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