.......a journey called life

I know it's kind of old topic but there were so many reasons floating around the internet for the real reason Google spent $ 1.65 billion for the silly buyout. Some of the most prominent ones being : massive ad inventory, video is the next thing, power of community, user profiling, to negotiate with myspace, and all sort of things.

There was one more reason though which was known and discussed on the internet:

Viacom was planning to sue Youtube for copyright violation and Google knew that the result of the this lawsuit would determine the copyright laws in general which would affect Google as well. Google business model revolves around the “fair use” of third parties content. YouTube also bases part of its business model on the “fair use” of copyrighted material. Should YouTube lose its upcoming court cases its probable that Google would find itself on a weaker position in front of legal actions. Google, therefore, acquired YouTube to make sure that indirect legal decisions will not affect its own business. This was done to bring matters to its own hand rather than being a spectator to the entire proceedings.

Viacom, the parent company of MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, filed the suit in March, alleging "massive copyright infringement" by online video-sharing site YouTube.

Yesterday, Forbes reports this:

Google Case Spells Windfall For Lawyers: Rainmakers at two prominent law firms brought in a hurricane on Monday, when their firms were hired to defend Google against a high-profile lawsuit from Viacom.........READ FULL STORY

So, the stage is set and it is no more a suspense why Google bought YouTube. As per Forbes article cited above, the case will almost certainly settle. But there is a slim chance that the companies may actually face off in court. And if that happens, the result will determine copyright law for years to come. Beyond the millions in advertising dollars at stake, the outcome of Viacom vs. Google could change the future of online video.