Fox Subpoenas Google For YouTube User Account
And so it happens. I remember awhile back predicting that Google is bound to get a lot of legal flak for stuff on its most recent big acquisition—YouTube. So a good number of stuff on YouTube is copyrighted material. Not everyone is complaining, though. Some have even banked on getting more popular because of their material on YouTube. Fox doesn’t think so, though. The Blog Herald cites reports that Fox is subpoenaing Google for a YouTuber’s ID.
It looks like Google’s dedication to the privacy of its users will tested once again. Twentyth Century Fox has filed a subpoena against the search engine king in order to reveal the identity of a certain YouTuber who uploaded a certain episode of the show 24 online.(Digital Bulletin) The subpoena, which was filed by a judge in California on January 18, could spark a heavyweight media collision between 20th Century Fox and Google, which acquired social media site YouTube for $1.65bn last year. It was also issued to lesser-known video-sharing site LiveDigital. […]
The new episodes of ‘24′, which stars Kiefer Sutherland and Elisha Cuthbert, appeared on YouTube on January 8, six days prior to its official January 14 premiere on News Corp-owned broadcaster Fox.
Google has currently suspended the account of the account of the YouTuber, who went by the name of ECOtotal. Google (as usual) has provided no comment over the subpoena, although this latest incident makes one wonder whether or not the search engine king is actually enforcing its copyright policy, something they vowed to do last year in October.
Well, surely that sucks for Fox—to have your material shown on the Internet days before the actual airing! But then again, to some, seeing Elisha Cuthbert makes it all worth it! Long live YouTube!
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce
Idetrorce said this on December 15, 2007 7:24 pm
You have to consider how many times or attempts there has been to sew Google in those matters. Hell I was mad when they started aggressively removing Family Guys, and Simpsons videos. They can’t afford to risk all the law suits. Simple explaination.
adamcpennington said this on February 29, 2008 3:27 am