Hasta La Gadget!

Once again, YouTube had risen as victor against Viacom in a copyright lawsuit that has been limping along for quite some time now. U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton sided with the video hosting service, stating that YouTube is protected by the DMCA, and that Viacom’s arguments against it demonstrated an anachronistic slant on the law.

This is the second time Judge Stanton has sided with YouTube, having also done so a couple years after the lawsuit surfaced in 2007. Viacom’s argument was that YouTube’s business was formed on the backs of copyrighted content, having failed to implement a system for preventing such materials. It was ruled that YouTube was in the safe harbor provision of the DMCA.

Despite this, appeals judges ultimately decided to bring the lawsuit back, saying that the quantity of copyrighted content featured on the website in that time period was in the majority, and that YouTube was aware of it. The problem it noted, however, was that Viacom must show that the video service was aware of individual instances of infrigement, something Judge Stanton says it has acknowledged that it cannot do.

Viacom claimed that YouTube purposely ignored copyright infringing content, and that it could have implemented a system to filter it but chose not to. In response, Judge Stanton stated that YouTube, under the DMCA, is not required to search for the infringing content, and that Viacom failed to demonstrate that YouTube engaged in “willful blindness.” Regarding the issue of whether it intentionally avoided limiting the content, the judge ruled that it doesn’t matter, the safe harbor provision still applies.

[via Hollywood Reporter]

Viacom loses copyright lawsuit against YouTube is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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YouTube trends may have changed over the last few years, but the company’s legal standing hasn’t: according to a federal judge, the DMCA still protects the streaming site from Viacom’s copyright claims. The ruling responds to Viacom’s appeal of a 2010 case, which stated that YouTube couldn’t be held responsible for copyright infringing content uploaded by its users. Viacom sought to revise the ruling, insisting that YouTube was “willfully blind” of the activity. That may be the case, but Judge Louis Stanton sees things differently. “Knowledge of the prevalence of infringing activity, and welcoming it, does not itself forfeit the safe harbor. To forfeit that, the provider must influence or participate in the infringement.” Since YouTube doesn’t pre-screen content before throwing it live, and because it always takes down infringing content upon request, it simply isn’t liable.

Viacom says that the decision “ignores the opinions of the higher courts and completely disregards the rights of creative artists,” and promises to appeal the decision again with hopes of taking the case to a jury. Google, on the other hand, is playing it cool. “The court correctly rejected Viacom’s lawsuit against YouTube, reaffirming that Congress got it right when it comes to copyright on the Internet. This is a win not just for YouTube, but for people everywhere who depend on the Internet to exchange ideas and information.” Looking for a side to pick? Check out the court’s full decision after the break.

Filed under: Internet, HD

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Source: AllThingsD, YouTube

Now that Twitter has very tentatively launched Music integration, Bloomberg is reporting its next media target is TV. According to unnamed sources, Twitter is “close” to cutting deals to integrate video clips into the timeline, and sell advertising next to them. As we’ve seen with the new Cards it revealed earlier this month, bringing in more content about what users are discussing is key to its new strategy, and short TV clips fits into that idea perfectly. The report claims the first deal could be struck as soon as next month, with the possibility of other networks following afterward. Also playing into the strategy is its purchase of Bluefin Labs in February. Bluefin’s focus is tracking how much users talk about particular TV shows, and Twitter claimed at the time that it sought to “create innovative new ad products and consumer experiences in the exciting intersection of Twitter and TV.” Think that fits?

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

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Source: Bloomberg

The BlackBerry Z10 was officially released last week as it was made available on AT&T and today, it has been made available for T-Mobile customers. Not only has the Z10 officially launched in the U.S., but the new BlackBerry 10 OS has also been released to the masses. The content selection for the BlackBerry 10 platform are slim pickings at this point, but BlackBerry is announcing some additional worthwhile content for its new OS.

BlackBerry is partnering with PBS, Univision and Viacom to bring a number of their popular programming, including Downton Abebey and shows from channels such as Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon to BlackBerry’s video catalog. Today’s partnership seems to be exclusive to BlackBerry 10 U.S. users as there’s currently no word on when or if it would be released across additional markets. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: BlackBerry Performs ‘At Last’ Terribly To Celebrate BB10 US Launch, Samsung Galaxy S4 Possibly Leaked In Video,

DirecTV announced today that it will raise its prices effected February 7, 2013, with the average customer’s bill going up about 4.5 percent. The card shown above displays the new rates (hit the source link to see them all) which it claims are up less than cable competitor’s price hikes, and are pushed by programming costs that have gone up eight percent. The last time we noted an increase in prices, DirecTV had just added a slew of HD channels. This time, it comes after a year that’s seen a number of DVR upgrades, more new channels, a lower price for Sunday Ticket, the launch DirecTV Everywhere features and, of course, a battle over programming costs with Viacom. We predicted that last bit would be reflected sooner or later in a pricing adjustment and it appears the time has come. So tell us DirecTV customers, are the new features, and keeping all those channels worth an increase to you, or are you thinking of moving on?

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: DirecTV