Comments on: Google Turning Into the NRA with its “Right to Share Video” Argument?

By: Our Monmouth

Our Monmouth — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:22:58 +0000

Andy - I find Google's posturing and statements alarming. With great power comes great responsibility.... right? I don't think you can blame Viacom for attempting to protect its copyrighted material. As a blogger perhaps I am a bit over sensitive to this issue having my site scraped and my content used without my authorization to many times to count. Our Monmouth's last blog post..Google Fights for the Right to Party (Hide Its Privacy Policy)

By: Andy Beard

Andy Beard — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:50:45 +0000

For me the biggest problem in all of this is the anonymous sharing on YouTube. If Viacom could force Google to have on file full verified contact details for all people uploading, the copyright infringement would disappear. Andy Beard's last blog post..You Can't Charge For Twitter Popularity

By: Houston Computer Recycler

Houston Computer Recycler — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:48:17 +0000

PS3: my understanding is that your friend could get in real trouble because he’s setting himself up as the enabler of the filesharing and if he owns the webaddress then there is a clear (and subpena-able) link to his name, address, number, etc.

As for the rest of the article, it is an interesting parallel but I feel falls a little short. Could Google/YouTube do more to police copyrighted videos? Probably. Are making ISP’s and websites (that rely on user generated content) explicitly responsible for the content that flows through them a bad idea for the open exchange of information? Probably.

A more apt analogy might be making the construction companies that build the roads responsible for policing them.

I do believe in accountability. If Google/YouTube wants to avoid taking the rub for copyright infringement I think they need to provide clear information for legal entities wishing to track violators who use their site. After all, in order to post a video on YouTube you have to promise that you have the legal right to post it.

By: PS3

PS3 — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:32:10 +0000

I’m more interested in the right to share video argument. A friend is trying to set up a “watch family guy episodes” video site and everyone is telling him that he will end up with copyright issues (even if the files are hosted elsewhere).

By: Andy Beal

Andy Beal — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:45:22 +0000

@Oliver – I’m not an expert on gun law, and I don’t want to get too off track by discussing the analogy, but, doesn’t a gun store have to check for violations of the Gun Control Act, when selling a gun?

By: Oliver Taco

Oliver Taco — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:04:37 +0000

Andy -

The second amendment doesn’t talk about gun permits.

And gun stores who legally sell guns (tricky b/c of the overlapping, contradictory, and plain stupid requirements of local, state, and federal licensing agencies) have been found not liable for the behavior of gun buyers. Ditto for gun manufacturers.

Which is good, if you have any stake in an auto industry, appliance industry, sports industry, etc, etc.

-OT