Youtube Viacom

This case involves several issues. Since Youtube was asked for providing their customers’ personal information, I would like to talk about the privacy issue.

There are several Acts relevant to the privacy issue:
1. The Privacy Act (1974):
The Privacy Act of 1974, as amended at 5 U.S.C. 552a, protects records that can be retrieved by personal identifiers such as a name, social security number, or other identifying number or symbol. An individual is entitled to access to his or her records and to request correction of these records if applicable. The Privacy Act prohibits disclosure of these records without the written consent of the individual to whom the records pertain unless one of the twelve disclosure exceptions enumerated in the Act applies. However, The Privacy Act binds only Federal agencies, and covers only records in the possession and control of Federal agencies.

2. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (1974)
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.

3. Rights to Financial Privacy Act (1978)
The Right to Financial Privacy Act (12 U.S.C. § 3401 et seq.), also known as the RFPA is a United States Act that gives the customers of financial institutions the right to some level of privacy from government searches. Before the Act was passed, the United States government did not have to tell customers that they were accessing their records, and customers did not have the right to prevent such actions.

4. Electronic Communications Privacy Act (1978)
The law was enacted in 1986 and covers various forms of wire and electronic communications. According to the U.S. Code, electronic communications "means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photo electronic or photo optical system that affects interstate or foreign commerce." The law prevents government entities from requiring disclosure of electronic communications from a provider without proper procedure.

5. Video Privacy Protection Act (1988)
The Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (codified at 18 U.S.C. § 2710 (2002)) was passed in reaction to the disclosure of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork's video rental records in a newspaper. The Act is not often invoked, but stands as one of the strongest protections of consumer privacy against a specific form of data collection. Generally, it prevents disclosure of personally identifiable rental records of "prerecorded video cassette tapes or similar audio visual material."

6. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
The act, effective April 21, 2000, applies to the online collection of personal information by persons or entities under U.S. jurisdiction from children under 13 years of age. It details what a website operator must include in a privacy policy, when and how to seek verifiable consent from a parent or guardian, and what responsibilities an operator has to protect children's privacy and safety online including restrictions on the marketing to those under 13.

Some of these Acts only bind to the government and none of them can be applied in the present case. The US government prefers a self-regulation Internet environment which means Congress will give ample space to companies to have their own privacy policy.
Accordingly, the “Framework for Global Electronic Commerce” report which was released by President Bill Clinton set forth that “In all commercial media, there is a constant tension between a desire by the public for privacy and a need for information about the viewing audience. Sometimes the tension is left to be resolved in the marketplace; governments have often mediated it through various data protection regulation. As the Web continues to mature as a commercial media, it is particularly prone to this dissonance due to its interactive nature. Users often wish to provide information so as to customize their experience without forfeiting all privacy. Services wish to oblige users, while also complying with disparate legislation across multiple countries”.

Thus, I think if we want to discuss the privacy issue in this case. The statues are helpless. Maybe we have to look into the Contract between customers and Youtube. I found the Youtube’s privacy policy terms as follows:

Information sharing
Google only shares personal information with other companies or individuals outside of Google in the following limited circumstances:
· We have your consent. We require opt-in consent for the sharing of any sensitive personal information.
· We provide such information to our subsidiaries, affiliated companies or other trusted businesses or persons for the purpose of processing personal information on our behalf. We require that these parties agree to process such information based on our instructions and in compliance with this Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.
· We have a good faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of such information is reasonably necessary to (a) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request, (b) enforce applicable Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations thereof, (c) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues, or (d) protect against imminent harm to the rights, property or safety of Google, its users or the public as required or permitted by law.
If Google becomes involved in a merger, acquisition, or any form of sale of some or all of its assets, we will provide notice before personal information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
We may share with third parties certain pieces of aggregated, non-personal information, such as the number of users who searched for a particular term, for example, or how many users clicked on a particular advertisement. Such information does not identify you individually.
Please contact us at the address below for any additional questions about the management or use of personal data.

I think if the customers of Youtube are liable for copyright infringement, Youtube still cannot reject to provide their customers’ information by claiming privacy protection.