Just before the holiday weekend, media giant Viacom won a legal victory over YouTube that set off fireworks across the Internet. The July 1 ruling gave Viacom access to records of what people watch on YouTube, which is owned by Google and is the most popular video site on the Web. Bloggers and consumer advocates warned of the potential privacy violations, particularly if Viacom uses the information to track down and sue people who watch copyrighted video clips on the site.
http://businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2008/tc2008073_435740.htm
Viacom vs. YouTube: Beyond Privacy
As Viacom is granted access to YouTube user records, a bigger threat to user-generated sites emerges: The law is increasingly siding with rights owners