Lawsuits may Lead to Policing CGM

Ethics. A term that, for some, works on a sliding scale. Robert Tur is upset because someone took his video and published it on YouTube, which he found unethical.

Tur is pressing charges saying "that You Tube is encouraging users to violate copyright law," when in fact it is a service that complies with all Digital Millennium Copyright Act provisions. This law offers protection to web service providers, which limits their liability when a user infringes on copyrights.

YouTube has user-generated content in the form of online videos and trusts users to make the best judgment concerning copyright laws. Taking that trust away and pre-screening videos for content is a descent from the original mission of YouTube, which is "empowering people to become the broadcasters of tomorrow. " There is a delicate balance that must be kept, but as the pendulum swings toward censorship and more lawsuits arise, social networking may be forced to change its practices indefinitely.