Archive for the ‘Viacom’ Category

YouTube users identities kept secret in Viacom case

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008


There has been a lot of debate about the privacy of users data on many online sites and more recently users of YouTube have been worried about their personal data.

Google was ordered by a court to turn over log files that show how users browse YouTube; this was because Viacom International wants to use this information as evidence to show how their copyrights are being breached.

Today we have heard that Google will be able to conceal YouTube user identities when it has to hand the database to Viacom that shows viewing habits on YouTube.

Many users were in uproar over the request that they thought would lead to their personal details being revealed, they can now rest in peace knowing that Viacom will know what people viewed but not what IP address.

Viacom will still get to see unique values for each IP address so that they can see peoples viewing habits, but this will be replacing IP Addresses.

This current lawsuit was filed against Google and their YouTube subsidiary back in 2007, they claim that YouTube is illegally distributing Viacom’s copyright content.

If you’re a YouTube user, is this the result you wanted?

Source: Read

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Is judge ordering Google to violate privacy law in Viacom case?

Monday, July 7th, 2008

privacy law in Viacom case
The outcome of the Viacom vs Google’s YouTube is still unclear but what’s even more confusing is how a judge could order Google to violate existing privacy law, according to some legal experts.

We reported a couple of days ago about the $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube and how users may worry where their personal information ends up.

Google is very willing to help in this matter but did state that it will ask Viacom to respect users’ privacy, but can we trust that this information will never be used in the future and how can we tell if it has?

YouTube just might have to turnover its viewing logs to Viacom, we understand why they want this information but the privacy aspects involved can be far reaching.

Viacom say they do not want any personally identifiable information but this is just what the court has ordered Google to hand over in the form of log files. If the judge is ordering Google to violate a privacy law the in Viacom case, how is this possible and what could the outcome be?

The truth will be that its near impossible to ever prove how someone has attained your personal information and if this involves the end user being accused of copyright infringement, proving these records weren’t used is near impossible.

Should YouTube give this information and if the logs are anonymized, will YouTube users be happy with that?

Written by Daniel for Product Reviews
In Sections: Business, News
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Viacom and the YouTube privacy problem

Saturday, July 5th, 2008

Viacom and YouTube privacy
YouTube is an amazing site and one that has changed the way web users watch videos; people will now listen to music by playing different YouTube videos on their home computers and on the move via cell phones like the Apple iPhone.

Today we hear that a U.S. judge has ordered Google Inc to hand over YouTube user data to Viacom Inc, this has caused outcry from some web users because of privacy fears.

Viacom owns MTV Networks and Paramount and they are currently in the middle of a $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube.

What would worry some YouTube users is the fact that the Southern District of New York Judge wants information on users IP addresses, what videos they watched, usernames of YouTube viewers and more for evidence.

The difficult part is being able to ensure personally identifiable information is secure and to comply with the court order, some blogs are claiming that this order will violate the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act.

Viacom has said in a statement that they have no plans on identifying individual users and just want to show video piracy patterns in the court case against YouTube.

Source: Read

Written by Daniel for Product Reviews
In Sections: Business, News
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Posted in youtube, Viacom, Business, News | No Comments »