YouTube users’ privacy prevails

Party on, YouTubers. No need to worry about your privacy.

Google Inc. has reached a deal with Viacom Inc. to protect the privacy of tens of millions of YouTube viewers. A judge had ordered Google, YouTube’s corporate parent, to hand over user data as part of the $1-billion copyright infringement case brought by Viacom.

According to the agreement, YouTube will mask the identities of individual viewers when it provides viewership records to Viacom. Among the things YouTube will cloak: user IDs and Internet protocol addresses (the unique numbers for each Web-connected device).

YouTube is handing over the database to Viacom under a court order that was widely criticized by privacy advocates and irate bloggers. U.S. District Court Judge Louis Stanton in New York dismissed such concerns.

Viacom has said that, under the court’s confidentiality order, the data will be released only to its outside attorneys and consultants and can be used only in this lawsuit, not to pursue individuals.

But Viacom remains interested in finding out whether YouTube employees had viewed its shows on the site. That issue has not been resolved.

Viacom, which owns movie studio Paramount and cable networks including MTV and Comedy Central, requested the information as part of its lawsuit. It is seeking to show that YouTube has built its success by letting people post Viacom shows.

Video download service for PS3

Sony Corp. finally launched its long-awaited video download service for the PlayStation 3 video game console.

The company started selling and renting movies and TV shows through its PlayStation Network late Tuesday. MGM, 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Warner Bros., Disney, Paramount, Turner Entertainment and of course Sony Pictures are making titles available.

PlayStation 3 owners will be able to buy TV shows for $1.99 and up. They can also rent movies for $2.99 to $5.99 and buy them for $9.99 to $14.99. For example, “Cloverfield” can be purchased for $14.99 or rented for $3.99. A high-definition version rents for $5.99.

Videos purchased through the PS3 can be transferred to Sony’s PSP hand-held game console.

Also Tuesday, Nintendo Co. jumped into the rapidly growing genre of music-themed video games with its own title, Wii Music, designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Wii Fit, Nintendogs and other hit titles.

Wii Music lets as many as four players at a time jam on virtual instruments, including violin, drums and guitar. Nintendo showed off the new game at a press event in Hollywood and put a video of the game on its website.

The Japanese company also gave hard-core game players a present: Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. is bringing its Grand Theft Auto franchise to the Nintendo DS hand-held console, which mostly features casual fare. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is expected to be available before Christmas.

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Alex Pham