Google and Viacom reach deal over YouTube user data

The legal battle over copyrighted content currently being fought by Viacom and Google, owner of YouTube, continues, setting important legal precedents regarding copyright material on the internet.
 
Viacom, a large media company that owns MTV and Paramount Pictures, is currently embroiled in a $1bn (£498m) court case against YouTube for hosting videos of copyrighted material. As part of the ongoing legal battle, Google was ordered to hand over the personal data of millions of YouTube users to Viacom and its lawyers, so that they could study the viewing habits of the site’s visitors. The thought of Google handing over 100 million users’ details was extremely worrying, and seen as a gross breach of confidentiality between Google and YouTube’s users.
 
Thankfully a new deal has been struck which will allow Google to make user information and IP addresses anonymous before giving them to Viacom.
 
In the official YouTube blog an employee of Google posted that: “Viacom and the plaintiffs had originally demanded access to users' private videos, our search technology, and our video identification technology. Our lawyers strongly opposed each of those demands and the court sided with us.

“We'll keep you informed of any important developments in this lawsuit. We remain committed to protecting your privacy and we'll continue to fight for your right to share and broadcast your work on YouTube.”
 
Although the court case is not likely to conclude before the end of 2009, it has been of great interest not only to lawyers concerned with online law, but also to many internet users. Depending on how this case is resolved there could be many ramifications for how we view media online.