I’m not a follower of John Battelle’s Searchblog, but his email-interview with EFF’s Fred von Lohmann caught my eye. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been around since 1990.

YouTube has already been sued (by LA New Service), so Google is essentially buying that lawsuit. But I don’t think that’s a problem — frankly, precedent set against YouTube will likely exert strong influence over the entire video hosting industry. So, in essence, Google is just getting more direct control over a lawsuit that is important for its existing and future business. And when it comes to lawsuits, Google has top-drawer talent (both in-house and in outside law firms), strategic vision, and a stellar track record. Google’s executives (like AOL’s and Yahoo’s before them) understand that shaping the legal precedents is a critical part of their business.

     Back to the BBS topic again. I’ll never forget explaining my side of the story to a class in college, “Computers and Modern Society”. This was about 1995. The professor asked the large auditorium full of students if they felt sysops should be held legally accountable for content uploaded by users (like in the middle of the night while I’m sleeping). I looked around the room and every hand was up!