Google wins source-code ruling in Viacom lawsuit
Published: 03 Jul 2008 15:07 BST
Google has scored a legal victory in keeping its search source code secret from Viacom, but YouTube users have not been so fortunate as regards their privacy.
A US federal judge ruled on Wednesday that the search giant does not have to turn over the code to Viacom, which filed a $1bn (£504m) copyright-infringement lawsuit against Google in 2007.
In granting Google's motion for a protective order, US district judge Louis L Stanton agreed with Google's characterisation of the source code as a trade secret that cannot be disclosed without risking the loss of business.
"YouTube and Google should not be made to place this vital asset in hazard merely to allay speculation," the judge said. "A plausible showing that YouTube and Google's denials are false, and that the search function can and has been used to discriminate in favour of infringing content, should be required before disclosure of so valuable and vulnerable an asset is compelled."
The judge also denied Viacom's motion for Google to produce source code for its Video Identification tool, which helps notify Google of copyright infringement.
However, the judge granted a Viacom motion that records of every video watched by YouTube users, as well as their login names and IP addresses, be turned over to the entertainment giant.
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The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called the ruling a threat to YouTube users' privacy.
"The court's order grants Viacom's request and erroneously ignores the protections of the federal Video Privacy Protection Act, and threatens to expose deeply private information about what videos are watched by YouTube users," the EFF said in a statement.
At stake in the legal battle is a key part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the 1998 law that shields website owners from copyright infringement involving material published by users. The 'safe harbour' provision in the law can protect against infringement claims as long as copyrighted material is removed upon notification.
After the suit was filed, YouTube launched an anti-piracy tool that checks uploaded videos against the original content.
Credit: Google wins source code ruling against Viacom from CNET News
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