Viacom just sacrificed your privacy to further their billion-dollar legal harassment of YouTube. US District Court Judge Louis Stanton just ordered YouTube to hand Viacom all personal information of all YouTube users. That includes names, IP addresses, viewing histories, everything.
YouTube, of course, argued that this would violate your privacy. Stanton dismissed that argument as “speculative”.
Yes, you read that right. Judge Louis Stanton states that the privacy implications of handing all your personal information to Viacom are merely “speculative”.
Speculative. Speculative! As a tech blogger, I’ve heard a lot of stupid things from a lot of stupid people over the years. Stanton’s statement has to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. How the fuck did this guy become a judge? How much did Viacom pay Stanton to state something this stupid?
Why the Hell would Viacom need all your personal information for these legal proceedings? Purportedly, it’s all part of Viacom’s fishing expedition to prove their claim that most of YouTube’s views came from Viacom content.
Viacom obviously doesn’t need your personal info for that purported purpose, and they know it. I don’t think Viacom really wants to prove their claim. Having your personal info and viewing history will enable them to do something far more sinister.
With your name and viewing history, Viacom can sue you just for accidentally clicking through to an MTV clip on YouTube. In fact, given how indiscriminately Viacom takes down YouTube videos, they’ll probably sue you for watching any clip on YouTube.
This isn’t about the law at all. In fact, it’s against the law — specifically the Video Privacy Protection Act. This is about spreading fear.
Apparently, Viacom isn’t satisfied with terrorizing YouTube uploaders through indiscriminate takedowns. They’re stepping up their campaign by terrorizing every YouTube viewer through lawsuits.
If Viacom gets your YouTube info, they can and probably will sue you. Viacom versus YouTube just became Viacom versus you. Will you let Sumner Redstone take your home away?
Tags: Louis Stanton, privacy, stupid, Viacom, YouTube
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