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Google Accepts News Corp. Subpoena for YouTube User IDs

News Corp. has become the latest big media company to take action against widespread copyright infringement on Google's YouTube. However, instead of telling YouTube to remove its content altogether News Corp, in what may be a RIAA-like legal strategy, is going after individual perpetrators of copyright infringement.

In a lawsuit against both YouTube and the online video site LiveDigital, News Corp. Wednesday subpoenaed the information of users from both sites that posted content illegally. Google was forced to comply, as per the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

Google is keeping mum of course, but these days, everyone in the media business knows the Web giant is having trouble figuring out the business side of YouTube. Traditional media companies, which only a few months ago seemed transfixed by YouTube's dominance of the nascent video market, have turned the tables, telling the Web giant to fix its copyright problems or they'll take their business elsewhere.br>

Viacom did exactly that two weeks ago. That decision was followed by public criticism of YouTube from partner NBC and IAC/InterActive Corp.'s Barry Diller. GigaOm (http://gigaom.com/2007/02/14/google-shifting-resources-to-youtube-monetization/) tells us that Google is now turning to Shashi Seth to fix YouTube's business woes. His first task will be to improve monetization, which would quell media companies' concerns.

Read the whole story at Internet News »

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