Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) received a blow in its battle against Viacom (NYSE:VIA-B) today, as a US Federal judge Louis L. Stanton ordered the company to turn over user data, which includes the names and web addresses of users, but more importantly to the case, it would reveal what videos the company took down, which would prove if the assertion by Viacom that YouTube exists because of copyrighted video content, rather than use-generated videos.
The enormous amount of data Google would have to provide would be placed on four 1-terabyte hard drives. I'm glad I don't have to start going through that.
In a statement, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which says they defend the rights of online users, commented on the ruling that it "threatens to expose deeply private information about what videos are watched by YouTube users."
While most of us support privacy issues, having Viacom know to some degree what videos people may watch on YouTube isn't exactly a big deal. There are many more important battles to fight than that.
And if concerns are that strong, than people should pressure Google to stop allowing users to upload copyrighted content. It's as simple as that.
We all know Google has the ability to do it from a technological viewpoint, as the are able to filter pornography and keep it off the site, something Viacom points out as part of the reason they are suing. If they can filter specific genres, they can surely filter any other video as well, says the media giant.
One area Stanton ruled against Viacom on was in the request for Google to turn over the source code YouTube uses to run the site, saying that it could harm the company, as the code is a trade secret.
It's probable Google will appeal the ruling, but they have a credibility issue there, because the judge used information used by Google on their site, where they assert revealing IP addresses doesn't invade users' privacy. They'll have a hard time convincing the court that it's ok for them to do it, but not for someone else to see it.
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