It will be interesting to see exactly who these "employees" and "managers" are and if they were in a position to "expeditiously act."
Let's say it was the CEO's secretary, on her own, who did the uploading - does that make Google non-compliant?
It seems Viacom is arguing that if ANY employee in ALL OF Google had ANY knowledge, then Google is non-compliant. That is going to be a pretty difficult argument to make.
Smoking gun in Viacom, YouTube case?
Summary
Sources say Viacom has evidence that YouTube employees knew of unauthorized content on the video site but did nothing about it.
Topics
Lawyers working on a $1 billion copyright lawsuit filed by Viacom against Google's YouTube may have uncovered evidence that employees of the video site were among those who uploaded unauthorized content to YouTube.
In addition, internal YouTube e-mails indicate that YouTube managers knew and discussed the existence of unauthorized content on the site with employees but chose not to remove the material, three sources with knowledge of the case told CNET.
The e-mails, according to the sources who asked for anonymity because of the ongoing litigation, surfaced during an exchange of information between the two sides of the legal dispute. They are one of the cornerstones of Viacom's case, as well as that of a separate class action lawsuit filed against Google and YouTube by a group of content owners, the sources said. The group includes a European soccer league and a music-publishing company.
Such evidence could be a major blow to YouTube's defense. If managers possessed "actual knowledge" of copyright infringement on the site and did not quickly remove it, the company may not be entitled to protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's safe-harbor provision, according to legal experts.
Read more of "Did Viacom find smoking gun in YouTube case?" from CNET News.
Talkback Most Recent of 5 Talkback(s)
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Takalok6th Oct 2009 -
Heathen896th Oct 2009 -
RE: Smoking gun in Viacom, YouTube case?
they should just shut down youtube for a few months, see how people ***** then.
REHCAMRETSNEF6th Oct 2009 -
RE: Smoking gun in Viacom, YouTube case?
re: Let's say it was the CEO's secretary, on her own, who did the uploading - does that make Google non-compliant?
not that I agree with the policy but there is something in legal terms called 'collective knowledge' which is sufficient.
mshockle6th Oct 2009 -
It's funny how people forget email
is a permanent record, and that it (like search history) is a prime target for lawyers looking for evidence of intent, willful negligence, and conspiracy.
Every year, we send out scary notices to our employees that say our email system is NOT private. Every year I have 3 or 4 people fired for using email or the web for personal business, visiting porn or betting sites, you name it. And these firings are not swept under the rug, we have the equivalent of the "perp walk" just to keep awareness of the penalties for misuse of computers at the company.
We've had a number of other IT managers in other companies tell us we are too harsh, and that employees expect "leeway" in how they use their PCs and the web, but when you can get hit with litigation that could cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars, there is no leeway.
terry flores7th Oct 2009
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