化為六月息

-----【譯文初稿】-----

最近美國紐約的一名法官，下令身為YouTube網站母公司的谷歌(Google)，交出曾上YouTube瀏覽該網站影音訊息者的資料與相關紀錄。由於紀錄中，將透漏使用者的姓名、網路服務供應商的詳盡資料、使用者曾瀏覽過哪些影片，以及瀏覽的時間點等訊息，因此遭到谷歌的強烈抗議。

法官之所以發出這樣的強制令，與維亞康姆集團(Viacom)所提起的一樁高達十億美元的訴訟案有關。維亞康姆集團是國際傳媒界的巨頭，旗下握有美國喜劇中心頻道(Comedy Central)、MTV 電視網(MTV Networks)與尼克奧迪恩兒童頻道(Nickelodeon) 。

為了證明YouTube網站中，受著作權保護的影音片段的點閱率，高於一般民眾自製上傳的影像，維亞康姆集團向法院申請取得YouTube網站的瀏覽紀錄。不過谷歌則表示，基於保障YouTube網站使用者的隱私，有必要讓瀏覽紀錄保密。

部份英國學者表示，確認個別瀏覽者的身份，對於維亞康姆集團而言並不困難。隱私專家伊恩・布朗博士(Dr Ian Brown)就說：「一旦取得瀏覽紀錄後，只要針對瀏覽紀錄進行交叉比對與分析研判，最後就能確認出個別使用者的身分。」

而另一部分專家，像是從事科技業界訴訟的史翠恩‧羅伯特森律師(Struan Robertson)，則是認為維亞康姆集團不會這麼做，不過他倒是認為法院的作法過當。史翠恩律師說：「我認為整個裁定失當，就好比用大砲轟小鳥一樣。」

針對疑慮，維亞康姆集團在聲明中表示，不會試圖確認個別使用者的身份，任何從瀏覽紀錄取得的訊息，都將只會用在與YouTube和谷歌的訴訟案中，作為證明之用。

由於擔心維亞康姆集團在這起訴訟案件獲勝後，其他競爭者會以同樣管道取得YouTube網站的瀏覽紀錄，因此許多重視隱私權的人士，都對此案件表達高度的關注。
 





※ 正式定稿與影像：「 新唐人電視台 ─ 娛樂新幹線195 」

※ The original article was taken from Reuters Website.  ( 原文取自路透社網站 )




-----【原文對照】-----

HEADLINE: Google ordered: hand over user data A New York judge has told Google which owns YouTube to open up its logs of viewers including user names, IP addresses and what they watched, to Viacom in a one billion dollar lawsuit over alleged copyright infringement. 


SCRIPT: On YouTube's own website there's an outcry over a U.S. court order for parent company Google(谷歌) to divulge details of everyone who's ever viewed its video wares.  A New York judge says Google must hand over its logs of YouTube viewers.  Those logs contain user names, internet provider details, what they watched, and when.

It's part of a billion dollar lawsuit launched by Viacom(維亞康姆), the entertainment giant whose empire includes Comedy Central(美國喜劇中心頻道), MTV Networks(MTV 電視網) and Nickelodeon(尼克奧迪恩兒童頻道). It wants to use the logs to back up its claim that copyrighted clips are more popular than the site's amateur videos. Google says it wants to make the data anonymous to protect the privacy of millions of YouTube viewers.

But some experts in Britain say it wouldn't be difficult for Viacom to identify people anyway. SOUNDBITE: Dr Ian Brown, privacy expert, saying (English): "If you've got records of individuals viewing tens, or hundreds, or in some cases thousands of different YouTube videos it actually can be quite easy to link those together and then link them back to a given individual."

Other experts like technology lawyer Struan Robertson doubts Viacom would do that but he says the court order goes way too far.   SOUNDBITE: Struan Robertson, technology lawyer, saying (English): "I think the original ruling was entirely disproportionate. I think what they've done here is take a sledgehammer to crack a nut."

Viacom says in a statement that it isn't out to pinpoint individuals.  SOUNDBITE: VO of Viacom statement saying (English): "Viacom has not asked for and will not be obtaining any personally identifiable information of any user. Any information that we or our outside advisors obtain will be used exclusively for the purpose of proving our case against YouTube and Google."

Britain's football Premier League is also on the warpath over match highlights its says have made their way onto YouTube and others may follow.  The showdown is being closely watched by privacy campaigners who fear if Viacom wins its lawsuit other contenders to demand the same access to YouTube's logs and everything that might give away about its viewers worldwide.