[Infowarrior] - Google Turns Over User IDs

[Richard Forno]

 February 12, 2007
Google Turns Over User IDs
By Nicholas Carlson
http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3659401

Google's YouTube and a company called Live Digital will offer no refuge to
users who uploaded pirated copies of Fox Television's "24" and "The
Simpsons" onto their video platforms.

In an e-mail to internetnews.com, a 20th Century Fox Television spokesperson
said that Google and Live Digital complied with subpoenas issued by the U.S.
District Court in Northern California and disclosed to Fox the identities of
two individuals who illegally uploaded entire episodes of "24" prior to its
broadcast and DVD release.

According to copies of the subpoena applications, Fox found this season's
first four episodes of "24" on LiveDigital and YouTube on Jan. 8, a full
week before they were to air for the first time in the U.S.

Fox said a YouTube user who goes by the handle "ECOTtotal" uploaded 12
episodes of the popular animated show "The Simpsons." The LiveDigital user's
display name was "Jorge Romero."

"We intend to use the information provided to pursue all available legal
remedies against those who infringed our copyrights," 20th Century Fox
Television Vice President of Media Relations Chris Alexander told
internetnews.com.

The U.S. District Court first instructed Google and Live Digital to produce
identifying information in identical subpoenas, pursuant to the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act, issued Jan. 24 after L.A. law firm Loeb & Loeb
filed them for Fox on Jan. 18.

Since Google purchased YouTube for $1.56 billion last fall, the company has
been besieged by similar complaints of copyright infringement.

Last week, for example, media giant Viacom demanded YouTube take down
100,000 clips, including content from MTV, Comedy Central and other
networks.

Viacom said "it has become clear that YouTube is unwilling to come to a fair
market agreement" on content distribution.

Some media companies have been more congenial. According to a Google
spokesperson, of the big four music labels, only EMI is yet to sign a
revenue-sharing deal with Google.

And today, Digital Music Group announced it entered into an agreement with
Google to make more than 4,000 hours of video content and approximately
40,000 music recordings available to the YouTube community.

DMGI currently owns or controls the digital distribution rights to classic
television episodes of "Gumby," "I Spy," "My Favorite Martian," "Peter Gunn"
and more.

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