We spoke too soon: Google and Viacom were able to reach a deal last night that paves the way for the hand-over of YouTube data, and will let the grindingly slow copyright lawsuit progress. Google claimed victory on its blog late Monday, claiming that "Viacom, MTV and other litigants have backed off their original demand for all users' viewing histories."
That's a bit of spin: Viacom is still getting the YouTube data it wanted - it's just that Google will first anonymize user names and IP addresses of YouTube users. For its part, Viacom has has said it never wanted the identities of YouTube users, and accused Google of foot-dragging on the handover.
This doesn't cover Viacom's request for the viewing records of YouTube employees like Chad Hurley -- a potentially explosive issue. The court gave the two sides 14 days to work that one out, so stay tuned. Full text of the Google-Viacom agreement below:
Google-Viacom YouTube deal - Free Legal Forms
See Also: Viacom Doesn't Want Everyone's YouTube History. It Wants Chad Hurley's
YouTube Source Code Safe, But Your Viewing Records Aren't
Mark Cuban: Here's How YouTube Can Make Money (And Lose Market Share)
YouTube's Anti-Piracy System Takes The Weekend Off
On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.
