This week there has been much talk of the Viacom vs YouTube case currently in court in the U.S. and with good reason. The case could well be a landmark for online industries and users both and has a reach far beyond the United States.

The database that Google, as owners of YouTube, have been asked to hand over to Viacom contains the IP addresses, login details and viewing history of every YouTube user. Since these are not distinguished by country, users from all over the world will be affected by this decision.
Viacom, whose interest in protecting their copyright comes from owning two media powerhouses- Paramount and MTV, brought the case to court for the first time over a year ago in March 2007. At the time it claimed that YouTube had a staggering 160,000 unauthorised clips on the site, with 1.5 billion views. With figures like these Viacom’s concern with the loss of viewership is understandable.

However, it is interesting to note that in a statement made in response to the lawsuit YouTube made this comment: "It's unfortunate that Viacom will no longer be able to benefit from YouTube's passionate audience, which has helped to promote many of Viacom's shows."

This oblique reference brings an important point to the debate, because there can be an argument that the accessibility, particularly internationally, and the community popularity of some TV shows on YouTube actually add to their popularity on network television.

The case will have further reach than just Google, because of its threat to the privacy of individual users. Although the court has instituted a contempt clause that means that Viacom cannot use any of the information in the database for anything other than proving the case against Google, if successful, it will set a precedent that many people find may have disturbing implications on both individual privacy and internet communications.

There have been calls for several years now for Google to better protect the privacy of its users both in its search and on YouTube. Privacy expert Simon Davies is quoted by the BBC as saying that ‘the chickens have come home to roost for Google’ after years of groups campaigning them to mask IP addresses.

Those of us in online industries will watch closely as this case unfolds, because one way or the other it will help define the murky parameters of online content and intellectual copyright.