First, Universal Music threatened to sue YouTube. Then, Universal teamed up with YouTube. Now, a week later, Universal sues Grouper and Bolt for allowing users to upload and share music videos. The lawsuit asks for as much as $150,000 for each incident of copyright infringement. “The lawsuit is without merit and we expect to prevail,” Josh Felser, co-founder and CEO of Grouper said. “Our website is protected by federal law and we’re vigilant about taking down copyrighted content when we’re properly notified.” This is a key lawsuit to watch, as it challenges the notion of DMCA’s safe harbor clause, which protects online service providers that promptly remove copyrighted content when asked.
October 17th, 2006
MyESPN has just debuted in beta. The registration process is nothing short of oppressive (my address?), and the suggested content is entirely ESPN. Come on guys, the entire world isn’t all about you. I think I’ll stick with NetVibes. (Via Fimoculous)
October 17th, 2006
Yahoo profit fell sharply in the third quarter due to a dip in display and search advertising. “I am not satisfied with our current financial performance and we intend to improve it,” said CEO Terry Semel. He said an upcoming technology called Project Panama (which is now live in beta) will help Yahoo reduce the gap with Google in search ads. And what about the Google-YouTube deal? “I came out with a grave concern about how severe the copyright violations could be,” he said. “It could be a gnarly problem if lawsuits come. And I did not want to put my company in that type of risk.”
Plus: Google projected to own 25 percent of online ad market
October 17th, 2006
