Google-owned YouTube said Friday that it would comply with a judge’s order that it turn over user records on videos viewed on the site.
In a blog post on its site, the world’s biggest video-sharing site said it would follow the legal process and turn over the necessary records in Viacom’s $1 billion copyright infringement case against YouTube.
But YouTube said it has requested the ability to make the data anonymous.
“[S]ince IP addresses and usernames aren't necessary to determine general viewing practices, our lawyers have asked their lawyers to let us remove that information before we hand over the data they're seeking,” the company wrote. “You should know, IP addresses identify a computer, not the person using it. It's not possible to determine your identity solely based on your IP address. Rather, an IP address can reveal what geographic area you're connecting from, or which Internet service provider you're using.”
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Comments (3)
Why isn't Google fighting this? Why aren't the user's voicing their concerns to Viacom and Google?
We can't just sit here passively and let this happen without having our voices heard. This has less to do with YouTube and more to do with the future of the Internet! If our privacy isn't honored by the courts or Viacom, we must speak out loud and clear.
Don't just post a few sentences and then go away from this issue, get involved. Call, email and post. Let Viacom, the Judge and Google know how we feel. If we don't YouTube will be just the tip of the iceberg.
Posted by Matt | July 7, 2008 9:05 AM
“You should know, IP addresses identify a computer, not the person using it. It's not possible to determine your identity solely based on your IP address. Rather, an IP address can reveal what geographic area you're connecting from, or which Internet service provider you're using.”
If only this had been honored in the past by the courts. The current legal precedent is that in the case of residential IP's, the person that owned the IP address at the time can reasonably held responsible for the actions of whomever was actually using the address. Good thing that in Charter Inc. vs. RIAA, ISP's are not legally bound to reveal the physical billing address corresponding to the IP when it comes to copyright infringement, even under subpeona.
Posted by Sean | July 7, 2008 11:11 AM
This is infuriating that our privacy is being violated like this. We need to speak out against this crap. If we just sit back and let it happen without even trying to voice our objections, we will only lose more privacy in the future.
Posted by Kimberly | July 7, 2008 4:11 PM