Google & YouTube - Hoisting MSM On the DMCA Petard!

[NashVegas]

This is just so rich ... the entertainment industry lobbied its ass off to get what it wanted (and screw the rest of us) in the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Turns out a certain provision is going to burn their asses, and I couldn't be happier.

Google has asked a US court to dismiss a $1bn (£500m) copyright action from entertainment giant Viacom Media, saying it is a threat to the internet.

Viacom, owner of MTV and Nickelodeon, claims Google's video-sharing website YouTube uses its shows illegally.

In action launched in March, Viacom alleged that about 160,000 unauthorised clips of its programmes had been uploaded onto YouTube.

But Google has denied it is involved in "massive" copyright infringement.

In a submission filed with a San Francisco court, Google cited the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) law from 1998, which state that internet companies were not responsible for what net users put on websites.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6613931.stm