Google To Viacom: "Yeah, whatever dude"

After Viacom sued YouTube/Google for 1 billion bucks, we all thought Google would be really screwed. Well apparently the tech-giant isn’t worrying much, saying that the DMCA justifies its actions and it’s not liable for jack. Sez Alexander Macgillivray from Google’s legal mumbojumbo department:

“Here there is a law which is specifically designed to give Web hosts such as us, or… bloggers or people that provide photo-album hosting online … the ‘safe harbor’ we need in order to be able to do hosting online,”
“We will never launch a product or acquire a company unless we are completely satisfied with its legal basis for operating,”

Google feels like it’s completely in the right this time around and that Viacom is just being a sourpuss. Google has won similar cases in the past, but Viacom is a media monster that has the power to keep this thing in court as long as it takes. So next time you want your MTV, you’d better be willing to give up your Google Video for it.

Google confident digital liability law protects it [Reuters]