Appeals court rules against Google's YouTube

     In 2006, as YouTube was becoming hugely popular in the online video department, Google knew that it would continue to grow and decided to purchase YouTube for $1.65 billion.  Compared to recent deals and purchases Google has made, this seems like a minor transaction.  At the time however, YouTube was under a great deal of scrutiny and pressure because of many copyright issues they were encountering over many videos on their site.  Google decided that either these issues would work themselves out and not be a problem, or that the potential damages were far less than the rewards YouTube would bring.  All in all, I would say they were correct and that acquiring YouTube was an excellent transaction for them.
     These suits have been going on ever since then, and perhaps Google thought they would never pick up real traction.  However, a US Appeals Court ruled today that YouTube, and consequently Google, knowingly broadcasted copyrighted videos on their website.  In 2010 a lower court had originally ruled in favor of YouTube, allowing companies to have videos uploaded by users on their site.  Viacom Inc. is the company that filed this $1 billion lawsuit, claiming there were thousands of videos on YouTube of different television shows that broke copyrights laws.  They are definitely not the only company claiming this though.  After the original ruling in 2010, Judge Jose Cabranes ruled again YouTube, claiming that "a reasonable jury could find that YouTube had actual knowledge or awareness of specific infringing activity on its website."  This could be a huge event in the overall timeline of online videos.  The debate about whether or not these websites are liable for copyright infringing material has been going on for quite some time.  I wonder if this ruling against a major company in Google could be a catalyst for major changes online.

Stempel, Jonathon, and Yinka Adegoke. "Appeals Court Reinstates Viacom Lawsuit against Google's YouTube." The Christian Science Monitor. 05 Apr. 2012. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0405/Appeals-court-reinstates-Viacom-lawsuit-against-Google-s-YouTube>.