New York
– While Viacom (NYSE: VIA) has received support from fellow media conglomerates Disney (NYSE: DIS),
Warner Bros. (NYSE: TWX) and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) in its $1 billion copyright suit against
YouTube (NASD: GOOG), four Internet giants — eBay (NASD: EBAY), Facebook, IAC (NASD: IACI) and Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) — have now
filed friend of the court briefs in support of YouTube.
The four technology
firms argue in their brief that, should the court side with Viacom and find
YouTube liable for the copyrighted videos posted by its users, "fear of
liability could discourage many Internet service providers from developing
platforms for use by the public at large."
Viacom filed its $1 billion
copyright suit against YouTube in 2007.
In recent weeks, documents from the
discovery portion of the proceedings have begun emerging, providing fascinating
details about the early days of YouTube, acquisition offers, and embarrassing
statements from both sides.
Related Links:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118019881.html
