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Google Beats Viacom!

By Pamela Jones et al.

This just in: Google has beaten Viacom on summary judgment. The judge has just ruled [PDF] that Google does qualify for DMCA safe harbor protection. "General knowledge that infringement is 'ubiquitous' does not impose a duty on the service provider to monitor or search its service for infringements," the judge wrote. So "the burden is on the owner to identify the infringement." This is huge.

Of course, Viacom will appeal, they say. When I see people ganging up on Google for whatever flaws they are looking at, notice also please that Google fought for the Internet in this case, at great expense. And they won a victory for all of us. In fact, I had decided that if they lost, I would shutter Groklaw. It would have been legally too risky to continue. So, thank you, Google, for not letting the Hollywood content bullies destroy the Internet as we know it.

Full post as published by Groklaw on June 23, 2010 (boomark / email).