[I Was Naked]
When I Wrote This.Viacom v. Google Let the Games Begin
2007-03-14
I've never been blessed with my grandfathers propensity for picking stocks. Now in my own defense, my grandfather was a Professor of Economics at Penn State for 25 years. He died in 1976 and I know my grandmother lived off the interest of his investments, until her death in 1989. My father was then the beneficiary, and I assume has also been living off the inheritence since then. All I know is..I'm not in the will.
But because I enjoy Comedy Central and the occasional deal of the day on QVC, a year or two ago I bought stock in Viacom. Liberty Media Holding is the parent company and the stock rose, and split and I enjoy watching what happens in my little portfolio at days end. But as storms a brewing and we have some big contendors taking the gloves off and like a five year old I can't help chanting:
Google's gonna get it, Googles gonna get it...
The news is, Viacom is suing Google for $1 billion in damages over these unauthorized clips and the use of its programming online. Viacom also seeks an injunction to prevent future and further violations .
Viacom asked Google to remove 100,000 clips uploaded to Youtube that break copy write infringement. ( See OP, you think my blogs don't link together..trust me they do ;-) Not only haven't the removed them, the number has now grown to 160,000. I believe Google's argument is that the posts go up faster then they can take them down. The reality is, anyone with half a brain can upload content on Youtube. The harm is, before you ask, is one..the copywrite infringement, and two..the royalties that don't get paid to the performers. Actors on the whole, do rely on residual income on repeats for a set period of time, and they really make out if shows go into syndication. Many a lawsuit was fought and lost back in the day of kerosene tv's, because the studios didn't offer residuals past a certain time frame. I think the Skipper and Lil Buddy got screwed royaly once off the island, and it wasn't by Ginger and Maryann.
Googles business model has always been a door buster. Give the service away for free and annoy the crap out of you with advertising. Look to your right as you post your next blog. Look at the ads by Google. Its about 10 cents per click based on the number of ad words you link. Advertising can get pretty expensive considering the medium of pay per click.
But in this case it seems like justice will prevail as Googles stock fell today over 2% and Viacom shares ended up at 40.03.
That puts me in a small minority of happy people. Apparently there is a huge backlash and boycott being demanded because the gravy train is over, and more giants are going to jump on this bandwagon. You see, the tubester does filter content that is deemed innapropriate, so they have the ability to step it up a notch and look for licensing. I honestly don't know why Viacom is made out to be the bad guy, when its the end users once again, pirating content. No wonder the proliferation overseas regarding pirating is met with a blank stare and half a chuckle. At least the Chinese go for quality assurance, at least to get it packaged and out the door. Have you seen the crap uploaded to Youtube? I swear half of them are created by some shlub standing in front of the tv with the record button on. I'ts not good.
Well, I'll never retire on my stock picks, because 5 years ago I had my Homer Simpson portfolio as I liked to call it. Beer and donuts. It went pretty well too, until that damn Atkins diet became a fad and so went my Krispy Kreme stock right to my proverbial ass. I bought it at 16, watched it go to 72, split, and finally crash and burn at 8.00 when I finally sold it. The one time I attempted to invest in the Pacific Rim, and I kid you not, the next day after the company had my funds, I caused the Kobe earthquake. Then again, that could have been a little divine retribution on the universes part, the way nature keeps herself balanced. This truly is a bigger issue then I am detailing here. But just think if you were paid for your blogs here on Shoutpost, and some whank decided to copy your blog and toss it out there in the public domain. Think of the revenue lost, and how indignent you would feel. Now extrapolate that out for music, tv clips, whatever it is, you can find it online..but not on ebay.
Just think about it next time before you hit [ Download]
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