Another brick in the copyright wall

By Steve Johnson

The news this week that Viacom is suing YouTube and its owner, Google, over alleged massive copyright infringement brings to mind some other lawsuits I'd like to see:

- FedEx sues Amazon for using boxes that are way bigger than the stuff inside. Tupperware, a leading proponent of accurate volume estimation, joins the suit.

- Users sue MySpace for being an inchoate mess where too many bands become so hot that you momentarily overlook how bad the music is. Also, your "friends" aren't really there for you when you need them.

- Microsoft sues iTunes because it "really, truly" had the idea for a hip online music store first and has the minutes from hundreds of hours of New Product Contemplation Committee meetings to prove it.

This is not to say the Viacom-GooTube lawsuit is a laughing matter. At stake could be, if the action is litigated to the hilt, nothing less than the future of copyright on the Web.


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