YouTube "caught" sharing user data

I couldn't find this posted anywhere, if it is posted, then sorry.

Quote:

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- It's no secret that millions of Internet users every day watch copyright-infringing video clips on YouTube, the upstart Web site that Google Inc. has agreed to acquire for $1.65 billion.

What's less known is that YouTube has been watching the watchers.

YouTube's actions in response to a subpoena it received in May show that it has been keeping tabs on users who post copyrighted material to its site -- and in one case shared the name of a user with lawyers from a Hollywood film studio.

On May 24, lawyers for Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures convinced a federal judge in San Francisco to issue a subpoena requiring YouTube to turn over details about a user who uploaded dialog from the movie studio's "Twin Towers," according to a copy of the document.

YouTube promptly handed over the data to Paramount, which on June 16 sued the creator of the 12-minute clip, New York City-based filmmaker Chris Moukarbel, for copyright infringement, in federal court in Washington.

That YouTube chose to turn over the data, rather than simply remove the offending video from its site -- as it did Friday when it agreed to take down 30,000 videos at the request of a group of Japanese media companies -- came as a surprise to copyright experts.

"YouTube seems to have given up too easily," said Laurence P. Colton, an intellectual-property lawyer at the firm of Powell & Goldstein LLP in Atlanta.

Its prompt legal capitulation suggests that YouTube users who post copyrighted material should not expect the company to protect them from media-business lawsuits, said Colton, whose firm wasn't involved in the Paramount subpoena or lawsuit and who learned of them from a MarketWatch reporter.

Full article

What do you guys think? Considering how widespread YouTube was, and the number of uploaders, is there anything to worry about?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

what are they supposed to do, they are 2 young kids that suddenly turned into billioners i doubt they give a fuck about the site anymore.

no homo

Media companies are just afraid of the internet. So instead of fearing it, they should use it and realize it's potential contribution to their businesses.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Zip

what are they supposed to do, they are 2 young kids that suddenly turned into billioners i doubt they give a fuck about the site anymore.

I agree to the majority of that extent. I think they still care about the site, but I don't think that they really want to have to get into a mess with lawsuits and legal fights... I think they understand just how sensitive people are in the media business.

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Yeah thats what i really ment lol, but the reason they dont want to get into lawsuits and this is that it costs money, also google is the owner now so i dont know how much they get to decide.

no homo

Originally Posted by Zip

what are they supposed to do, they are 2 young kids that suddenly turned into billioners i doubt they give a fuck about the site anymore.

Yeah even though those 'two kids' helped out in the making of PayPal.


I forsee many companies getting scared and sue happy until one bold company strikes a deal with Google/YouTube in order to advertise a movie and then it becomes a popular vehicle for advertisement.

As far as the guy using that clip, well unless it fell under the Fair Use Act, then it was well within the legal rights of the media giants to sue him.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I am surprised that they gave in so easily, but look at Microsoft and Yahoo when the White House asked for search records. Not really anything new, I am glad I don't upload anything to YouTube now.

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I've been noticing security get tighter on youtube and frankly I think it's getting out of hand, if the user isn't sending out messages of hate or making money from other peoples videos then what's the problem? >.>

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?