YouTube’s actions in response to a subpoena it received in May show that it has been keeping tabs on users who post copyrighted material to its site — and in one case shared the name of a user with lawyers from a Hollywood film studio. On May 24, lawyers for Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures convinced a federal judge in San Francisco to issue a subpoena requiring YouTube to turn over details about a user who uploaded dialog from the movie studio’s “Twin Towers,” according to a copy of the document. YouTube promptly handed over the data to Paramount, which on June 16 sued the creator of the 12-minute clip, New York City-based filmmaker Chris Moukarbel, for copyright infringement, in federal court in Washington.
Read this story from MarketWatch, YouTube’s no friend to copyright violators from C|Net, Google quizzed over YouTube plans from BBC Technology News, YouTube names names: why is anyone surprised? from Ars and in related news, YouTube cuts 30,000 illegal clips from the BBC Technology News with commentary from Ars.
Previously from WNM: Is trading copy-protected content a fundamental aspect of social networking? and Acquiesing to the user-centered Internet.
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