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"Chances are you\u2019ve heard recently about an order made by a judge for the Southern District of New York for Google to turn over user data to Viacom for videos uploaded to and played back on the megasite YouTube. The extent of the demand is quite extraordinary. The data Viacom has asked for stretches back a few years\u2019 time, and seeing that the video host now serves user requests for billions of clips every month, Google\u2019s compliance on the matter would no doubt toss this case firmly into the realm of very high-profile ligitation. Privacy advocates are atwitter.\nWell, the heads in Mountain View, CA, have responded. In short, they\u2019ve agreed. With two big exceptions. They want to deliver the records not including IP addresses and usernames.\nViacom made its request for YouTube\u2019s logbook as part of a $1bn lawsuit that the content producer first filed in early 2007. The reason for the latest information request, granted by Judge Louis Stanton this past Tuesday, is that it wishes to \u201Cdemonstrate video piracy patterns\u201D on the video site.\nThe information Viacom seeks of course involves user data in its original form, but the company said in a statement in response to concerns voiced by privacy advocates that it \u201Chas not asked for and will not be obtaining any personally identifiable information of any user.\u201D\nSo, no worries? Well, it depends. This is a legal proceeding, and as such necessitates a process. All parties need to work out the details of the transfer, and while the basic statements delivered by Viacom and YouTube appear on the whole to be in agreement in keeping specific user data removed from the court battle, there\u2019s at least one particularity that may be contentious.\n\nTo refer to the quote above stating that Viacom \u201Cwill not be obtaining any personally identifiable information,\u201D it is perhaps arguable that computer IP addresses don\u2019t technically fall under that designation. YouTube wrote in a blog post noting this fact, saying very plainly that \u201CIP addresses identify a computer, not the person using it. It's not possible to determine your identity solely based on your IP address. Rather, an IP address can reveal what geographic area you're connecting from, or which Internet service provider you're using.\u201D\nTherefore, while user names may not be an official pursuit for Viacom, YouTube may have to capitulate to the data request with IP records included. Which certainly won\u2019t make privacy hawks happy.\nIs this a bad omen for the video site, its parent company, or the users?  If some past piracy-based court rulings are anything to go by, I imagine YouTube and its users are relatively safe. But this fight could prove hugely messy for all. IP addresses can help to narrow down sources of piracy, if not completely. And if nothing else, having such information can simply give Viacom the ability to piece together a stronger argument against YouTube. Much of this case hinges on how many specifics the plaintiff can rack up against the defendant. The less vague an attack by Viacom, the more effective. All now seems to depend on Google\u2019s ability to convince the presiding judge that IPs are both too revealing and not revealing enough. Which would be supremely difficult to do at this point, I think."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2008/07/05/youtube-viacom/>