Viacom

Viacom finds friends in its case against YouTube

December 11, 2010 1:44 am by Richard Waters

Representatives of a large part of the US media industry – with Microsoft also along for the ride – have lined up to back Viacom’s continuing legal battle with YouTube.

It is a timely reminder of how far Google still has to go to win friends in the media world. The transgressions of which Viacom complained now lie more than two years in the past, and a Federal court has already found in YouTube’s favour: but there is still deep concern over what some claim was the video site’s willful blindness to piracy in its early days. Read more

Tags: Viacom, YouTube
Posted in Digital media, Internet, Tech | Permalink

Why Viacom ruling could take YouTube to profitability

June 24, 2010 1:14 am by Richard Waters

The judge who today threw out Viacom’s $1bn copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube may just have given the video site the final lift it needs to reach profitability.

That is the less-noted result of judge Louis Stanton’s decision to grant a motion for summary judgment in the case. The reason: he has given YouTube an emphatic green light to start placing adverts against a much wider range of videos on its site. Read more

Tags: google, Viacom
Posted in Internet, Tech | Permalink

techfile 6.3.09

March 6, 2009 6:00 am by morning call

Faced with industry-wide overcapacity, Taiwan announced it was restructuring the nation’s memory chip companies and creating a new government-backed group. The move comes two days after AMD and Abu Dhabi investors created a new company to take on the Taiwanese. Demand for chips is falling precipitously as consumers and companies cut spending on computers, cameras and mobile phones.
Although there is evidence that gamers are growing tired of music games such as Activison‘s Guitar Hero, one title may revive the genre. “The Beatles: Rock Band” will ship in September, and is an almost guaranteed blockbuster for the companies behind Rock Band, which include Electronic Arts, Viacom‘s MTV and Harmonix. The Beatles, who have sold more than 600m albums worldwide, have rarely licensed their music.