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Google Says Viacom Is Destroying the Internet

by Terrence O'Brien on May 28, 2008 at 01:06 PM

Google Says Viacom is Destroying the InternetThe drama between Google and Viacom over copyright infringing videos on YouTube staggers on, despite having fallen out of focus during the last several news cycles. In the latest development, Google, which owns YouTube, has filed papers in the U.S. District Court of Manhattan,charging that Viacom's lawsuit against YouTube threatens the very nature and existence of the Internet.

Google claims that -- according to the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright act -- YouTube "goes far beyond its legal obligations in assisting content owners to protect their works." It says that Viacom's relentless constant claimes of copyright infringement "threaten the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment and political and artistic expression."

The $1 billion lawsuit filed by Viacom last year was rewritten and refiled last month by the company to include claims that posting copyrighted material is a central part of YouTube's business plan. It seems that traditional media will stop at nothing to keep people glued to their television sets. Well, come on, with the amount of times that Viacom-owned MTV repeats its vapid reality shows these days, there's little chance that some of us aren't going to end up watching TV programs the traditonal way -- on a TV. So give us access on YouTube, too. [Source: The New York Times]

Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, lawsuits, viacom, youtube

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