Viacom and Google prepare to do battle over the future of the internet itself
May 28, 2008
God damn, that was a pretentious header. And the real irony is, it’s not actually all that far off the mark. If anything, Google’s latest statement dumbs the situation down a bit, claiming only that Viacom’s lawsuit "threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information".
Viacom is currently engaged in legal proceedings targeted against Google-owned video sharing site YouTube, arguing that it allows users to post copyrighted material and that the site operators have done “little or nothing to stop it”.
The search engine giant maintains that it has adhered to the requirements of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act and that it responds properly to claims of infringement. If anything, it goes above and beyond what is required of it. Viacom apparently isn’t satisfied with its efforts, claiming that it has still identified more than 150,000 unauthorised videos on the site, included those from Viacom-owned MTV and Comedy Central TV channels.
These finding are probably correct, but that doesn’t actually alter the fact that under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), website operators are protected from copyright violations posted by users.
So essentially Viacom is seeking to change the way the law works, making the over-zealous assertion that copyright violation is “a cornerstone of [Google’s] business plan". Google has made it clear that it’s prepared to go all the way to the Supreme Court with the case.
And that is where it seems very likely to end up. Viacom is justified in its efforts to protect its property from what basically amounts to theft and while Google probably has the financial muscle to settle, if the DMCA protections were removed, services like YouTube would have a nigh on impossible time getting started in the first place.
If Google’s defence is unsuccessful, it would paint an extremely bleak picture for the future of the internet, not just because of the obstacles it would present to startups but perhaps the sheer amount of policing required to keep every popular site above board would render them financially unfeasible. To make websites responsible for their users actions would threaten everything that makes the internet the place it is.
Written by Ilinx · Filed Under Social Media
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