UNIVERSAL MUSIC CLAIMS RIGHT TO REMOVE YOUTUBE VIDEOS IT DOESN'T HAVE COPYRIGHT TO

Universal Music Group has responded to Megaupload's request for a temporary restraining order barring the music giant from further interference with the distribution of its "Mega Song." UMG insists that it had a right to take down the video—not under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, as Megaupload had assumed, but under a private contractual arrangement between UMG and YouTube.

UMG's filing raises more questions than it answers. Most obviously, the firm has not explained why it took down the video in the first place. But the filing also raises deeper questions about UMG's effort to essentially opt out of the DMCA takedown rules. UMG seems to believe it can take down videos even if it doesn't hold the copyright to them, and that when UMG takes a video down from YouTube, the owner of that video can't avail herself of even the weak protections against takedown abuse provided by the DMCA.

UMG casts Megaupload as a major villain in the war over illegal file-sharing. Last week, Megaupload sought to bolster its image by releasing a pop-star-studded promotional video. UMG's takedown request was an unexpected publicity coup. Megaupload took full advantage, suing UMG on Monday and asking the judge for an immediate restraining order to prevent UMG from further interfering with the video's distribution.

UMG's response, filed late on Thursday, focuses on the narrow question of whether Judge Claudia Wilken should grant such a restraining order. The recording giant makes two principle arguments in opposition.

First, UMG says such a restraining order is not authorized by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA's notice-and-takedown safe harbor includes a provision for monetary damages against copyright holders who abuse the takedown process, but it does not give the courts the power to block copyright holders from sending takedown requests.

But more importantly, Universal argues that its takedown is not governed by the DMCA in the first place. In a statement supporting Megaupload's complaint, CIO Kim Dotcom had stated "it is my understanding" that Universal had invoked the DMCA's notice-and-takedown provisions. But UMG says Dotcom got it wrong: the takedown was sent "pursuant to the UMG-YouTube agreement," which gives UMG "the right to block or remove user-posted videos through YouTube's CMS based on a number of contractually specified criteria."

In other words, when UMG removes a video using YouTube's CMS, that might be a takedown, but it's not a DMCA takedown. And that, UMG argues, means that the DMCA's rule against sending takedown requests for files you don't own doesn't apply.

UMG underscored the point by including a letter UMG lawyer Kelly Klaus sent to YouTube on Wednesday. In that letter, Klaus wrote:

Your letter could be read to suggest that UMG's rights to use the YouTube "Content Management System" with respect to certain user-posted videos are limited to instances in which UMG asserts a claim that a user-posted video contains material that infringes a UMG copyright. As you know, UMG's rights in this regard are not limited to copyright infringement, as set forth more completely in the March 31, 2009 Video License Agreement for UGC Video Service Providers, including without limitation Paragraphs 1(b) and 1(g) thereof.

This appears to be a reference to the agreement underlying the VEVO partnership between Google and UMG announced in April 2009. As far as we know, the agreement isn't public, so we can only speculate on what's in Paragraphs 1(b) and 1(g).

GOOGLE CHROME PASSES INTERNET EXPLORER TO BECOME TOP BROWSER IN WORLD

When Google Chrome launched a couple years ago, people knew that Google’s massive web presence and cross-promotional powers would help it gain market share quickly. But in just over 26 months Chrome 15 has surpassed Internet Explorer 8 to become the most popular browser in the world.

Yes, it’s a single browser version — and with Chrome’s silent auto-update mechanism, that’s the entire Google Chrome army against just one version of Internet Explorer. When you look at all versions, IE is still top dog at about 39% worldwide, with Chrome near 27%. That doesn’t make the feat any more impressive. In just two years, Google has managed to build, test, release, and promote Chrome well enough that it’s now a force to be reckoned with in the web browser market.

SECURITY FIRM SAYS GOOGLE WALLET NOT SECURE

Security firm ViaForensics recently said Google Wallet does not properly protect personal data, including credit card balance information, on a rooted Nexus S smartphone. Google Wallet is an NFC-based mobile payment system for Android that is accepted by a number of retailers in the United States. It is currently only officially available on the Nexus S and Nexus S 4G. “While Google Wallet does a decent job securing your full credit cards numbers, the amount of data that Google Wallet stores unencrypted on the device is significant,” ViaForensics said in a recent report. “Many consumers would not find it acceptable if people knew their credit card balance or limits.”

GRAPHING CALCULATOR ADDED TO GOOGLE RESULTS

Google has always been handy for answering quick mathematical questions, unit conversions, or currency conversions typed into the search box. You can now stash that graphing calculator of yours forever, because the crew in Mountain View added graphing displays to Google calculator features as well.

Type a function into the Google search box, such as cos(x), and at the top of the results page you’ll see that graph drawn out. There are Google Maps-like controls for panning and zooming around the graph. Multiple graphs can be drawn by separating the functions with commas. The screenshot above shows what you get when you put in four functions: the four graphs are drawn, overlapping each other, in Google’s trademark bright colors.

The x- and y-coordinates in the top right corner of the graph follow your mouse but lock the point to one along the line. That feature is best explained by simply trying it out.

A couple of computer science-y quirks remain. If you graph sin(x) and hold your mouse over the point that should be zero, such as pi, the y-coordinate displays as a really small number, such as 1.5364 x 10-5. If you ever need the exact value of a certain point in your function, you could always put that directly into the search box, such as sin(0), and just let the normal Calculator app work its magic.

According to “Google engineer and math lover” Adi Avidor, the graphing calculator supports a variety of functions. Specifically, trigonometric, exponential, logarithmic functions and all their compositions are included. The feature is available now in modern browsers.

FIREFOX IN TROUBLE NOW THAT GOOGLE DEAL HAS APPARENTLY ENDED

It hasn’t been a good year for Mozilla and its flagship product, the Firefox browser. Firefox continues to lose share to Google Chrome. Statistics from Net Market Share show the decline, with Firefox plunging from 25% to 22% and Chrome rising from under 5% to more than 18% during the last two years.

Now, the deal with Mozilla’s biggest financial backer is in question. A search partnership with Google has historically been Mozilla’s greatest source of income. In a recent financial statement from the Mozilla Foundation back in Augusta "The Corporation has a contract with a search engine provider for royalties which expires November 2011. Approximately 84% and 86% of royalty revenue for 2010 and 2009, respectively, was derived from this contract."

When asked for clarification a Mozilla spokesperson replied with a link to the 2009 financial FAQ, which contained equally vague language: “We believe that search providers will remain a solid generator of revenue for Mozilla for the foreseeable future” and a PR spokesperson said on December 1 when asked about the Google contract being renegotiated "We currently do not have an update to share."

CHROME BROWSER SURPASSES FIREFOX IN USAGE

Google’s Chrome web browser surpassed Mozilla’s Firefox in global browser market share for the first time ever in November. Research firm StatCounter found that Chrome’s market share during the month was 25.69%, up 4.66% from last November, and that Firefox’s share was a hair lower at 25.33% during the month. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer maintained its lead with 40.63%. ”Our stats measure actual browser usage, not downloads, so while Chrome has been highly effective in ensuring downloads our stats show that people are actually using it to access the web also,” StatCounter CEO Aodjan Cullen said. Internet Explorer remains the top browser in the United States with a 50.66% share. Firefox is the second most popular browser in the U.S. with a 20.09% share, down from 26.75% in November last year, and Chrome is the third most popular browser with a 17.3% share, up from 10.89% last year. Net Applications, another research firm, published similar results on Thursday.

LEAK: GOOGLE LAUNCHING AMAZON STYLE PRIME PROGRAM

Sources are saying that Google is in talks with various retailers and shippers to create a service that lets customers receive within 24 to 48 hours. According to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, the company's effort is motivated by the success of Amazon's Prime service, which allows customers to receive many purchased items within a day or two for an annual fee of $79. Google, in turn, has apparently pitched the project to retailers such as Macy's, Gap and OfficeMax. Under the proposed system, when shoppers place an order on an affiliate's website, Google's system could kick in to offer them an option for same-day or possibly next-day delivery, said a person familiar with the matter. Sources indicated that Google plans to start a pilot test of the service in the San Francisco Bay Area sometime in 2012.

GOOGLE VIDEO SITES GET 21 BILLION VIEWS PER MONTH

The latest report from comScore makes for eye popping reading -- Google's video sites, of which YouTube is the most important, received 20,933,113,000 views in October. To put that into some context, that's roughly three videos watched by every person alive on the planet. According to the statistics, YouTubers spent an average of seven hours watching the month's hottest videos.

Surprisingly, Facebook came second, but viewers spent an measly average of 18 minutes watching last night's karaoke. In other news, Hulu came top for online advertising and Vevo was the most watched partner site, you guys obviously love your Lady Gaga.

ANDROID GETS INDOOR GOOGLE MAPS

Google has added indoor maps of select malls, airports, and retail stores to its Android version of Google Maps, just in time for the holiday shopping season.

The update, version 6.0, shows your location, as the familiar blue dot, in relation to airport gates, mall stores, and retail departments. Google Maps has previously shown some indoor stores, but now it also displays the concourse and walkway. It can also determine what floor you’re on, and display the corresponding map.

GPS signals are typically horrible while indoors, so indoor maps is difficult to implement. Cell tower triangulation is used here, but the biggest boost in accuracy comes from WiFi hotspots. Google has created a database of routers’ signals, and they use your proximity to these networks to find your precise location. The quantity of logged hotspots will determine how precise it is.

The service is launching not only with limited locations, but also with limited functionality. Searching is currently unavailable on indoor maps, as is turn-by-turn navigation (“in 30 feet, turn left at Foot Locker, and Krispy Kreme will be on the right”). Google is silent on these features, but logic dictates that they will be added soon.

Google is also mum on adding indoor maps to iOS. Judging by the prickly relationship between Google and Apple, this may never happen. We could see an Apple Maps service before we see Mountain View and Cupertino collaborate on this.

The initial list of retail partners includes: Mall of America, IKEA, Home Depot, select Macy’s, and Bloomingdale’s. It also works in airports like Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Chicago O’Hare, and San Francisco International Airport.

NO FLASH FOR ICE CREAM SANDWICH...FOR NOW

If you lucky owners of the Galaxy Nexus in these first days of its release complete with the first iteration of Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), you’ll notice that you do not have Adobe Flash Player installed, nor do you have access to a download on the Android Market.

Google has just confirmed, this is normal and that Flash support will only come once Adobe makes the call to update the mobile version for Android 4.0 to work with ICS.

MOTOROLA MOBILITY SHAREHOLDERS OVERWHELMING APPROVE GOOGLE ACQUISITION

Motorola Mobility on Thursday announced that stockholders voted to approve Google’s proposed $12.5 billion merger. At the company’s special stockholder meeting on Thursday, roughly 99% of Motorola shares voting cast their vote in favor of the acquisition, which amounts to $40 per share in cash for complete ownership of Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. ”We are pleased and gratified by the strong support we have received from our stockholders, with more than 99 percent of the voting shares voting in support of the transaction,” Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha said in a statement. “We look forward to working with Google to realize the significant value this combination will bring to our stockholders and all the new opportunities it will provide our dedicated employees, customers, and partners.”

First announced back in August, Google intends to acquire Motorola Mobility and run it as a separate entity in terms of operations. As Google CEO Larry Page explained, however, patents are also a big part of the deal. Google intends to use the tens of thousands of patents it will control as a result of the merger as a new line of defense in a series of patent battles between its various Android partners and aggressively litigious companies like Apple and Microsoft.

GOOGLE WALLET AND CHECKOUT MERGE

In a move that has "common sense" written all over it, the folks over at Mountain View have decided to merge Google Checkout with Google Wallet. The marriage hardly comes as a surprise, considering the fact that both services serve essentially the same purpose -- namely, storing all your payment information in one neat little package. To make things even tidier, Big G has just folded Checkout into Wallet, which will soon be integrated within the Android Market, YouTube and Google+ Games, as well. As a result, the Checkout moniker will vanish from the Earth, but current users will be able to seamlessly switch over to Wallet the next time they log in to their accounts or make an online purchase.

GOOGLE UNVEILS ENHANCED GOOGLE MUSIC

Google on Wednesday took the wraps off a new and improved music service. Building onto “Music Beta by Google,” Google has launched Google Music, a publicly available cloud-based music services that will be free to users in the United States. Google Music users can add up to 20,000 songs from their local libraries to the cloud and stream them to any number of supported devices over the Internet. “Pinned” albums and songs are downloaded to devices and cached for local playback without the need for an Internet connection. Read on for more.

The service is integrated with the Android Market, allowing users to purchase 320Kbps songs from within the Market starting at $0.99 a track. Features include a curated music section, a recommendation engine, a name-your-own-price self-managed “artist hub” for independent artists, integration with YouTube for artists, music playback from within the Market, auto-transfer of purchases to your online locker, carrier billing (T-Mobile will soon become the first carrier to support carrier billing) and several sharing features that are integrated with Google+, Google’s new social network. Purchased tracks that are shared with users via Google+ can be played once for free, and then users can click through to purchase tracks they want to buy.

ICE CREAM SANDWICH SOURCE CODE RELEASED

If you're champing at the bit waiting to get your hands on a nice cool piece of Android 4.0, your wait may soon be over. Pending a final go-ahead from the Android Open Source Project, you'll be able to sync the now available Ice Cream Sandwich source code. Due to the "large push" (presumably because of all the changes), the roll out is going to take some time to complete -- project members will give the final word when things are good to go. If you try to sync prematurely, be forewarned that you'll get an incomplete copy that will be useless. The available flavor is 4.0.1 which will be the version to ship on the Galaxy Nexus, the first ICS device. This release also includes "the full history of the Android Code," signaling the first time Honeycomb source has seen daylight.

GOOGLE + NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESSES

Finally, Google is now allowing businesses, brands and any non-human entity to participate in its Google+ social network, through new Google+ Pages. Beginning today, and rolling out over the next two days, businesses will be able to create Google+ pages for themselves, using the Create A Page tool (and assuming you already have a regular Google+ account). once you gain access, you’ll be asked to create a page in one of five categories:

• Local Business or Place
• Product or Brand
• Company, Institution or Organization
• Arts, Entertainment or Sports
• Other

At first, whoever creates the page initially will also be the page administrator. No one else will be able to admin that page after them, at first. Nor can that page be transferred to someone else. Multiple administrator support is promised in the near future, but until it arrives, it seems important that if your company has a social media manager, that person should be the one to create the account.

Unlike Facebook, there aren’t “vanity” URLs yet available that use a business name rather than a long string of number. The same issue is true of personal accounts. Google provided no update on when this might change. Don’t like the name of your page? Unlike with Facebook, you can change that at any time. However, if you have verified status, doing this will cause you to lose verification, requiring that process to start again

LEAK: NEW ANDROID MARKET COMING

Version 3.3.11 of the Android Market has leaked out and assuming this version is close to what will be officially distributed, it will be adding a few much-needed features. The first and most-important is that Google is tweaking auto-download settings yet again by giving users the option to make auto-update the default setting, making it easier to auto-update apps on Android. You can also tick a box to "Update over Wi-Fi only" to save precious megabytes on your cellular data plan and probably improve your battery life to boot. When you download a new app for the first time, you can opt to have it automatically add a shortcut to your homescreen.

There are plenty of other nuances to be found, including a new icon, smaller fonts, more visible star ratings, and the voice-button on the default Market search. Rumor has it the update is being pushed out to handsets now, so it hopefully it won't be too long until it arrives on your Android device. Hit the link here for a gallery of images.

GOOGLE LAUNCHES NEW GMAIL LOOK

Hot on the heels of the newly revamped Reader, Google is rolling out a new Gmail. Gmail’s conversation view has been streamlined and now includes photos of each contact. Additionally, it will automatically resize itself to look best depending on your screen size thanks to a new “elastic density feature.” Themes now support HD images and there is a new “smarter navigation” panel on the left hand side of the display that is customizable. Google also added a drop-down search box for more accurate email searches. The software giant says users will begin to see the option to “switch to the new look” in the bottom right-hand of their inbox over the next few days. Check out the video below for more features.

MOTOROLA MOBILITY TO LAYOFF 800

Motorola Mobility will spend $31 million as it lays off 800 employees ahead of its planned acquisition by Google, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Motorola said in a regulatory filing that it would spend $27 million in employee severance and an additional $4 million closing a number of existing facilities. “Motorola Mobility continues to focus on improving its financial performance by taking actions to manage the company’s costs,” company spokeswoman Jennifer Weyrauch-Erickson told Bloomberg. Google announced its intentions to purchase Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion on August 15th. Google CEO Larry Page said the acquisition would provide Google with patents that will help the company defend its Android partners in lawsuits with Microsoft, Apple and others.

GOOGLE LAUNCHES OVER 100 CHANNELS ON YOUTUBE

Google is launching more than 100 new YouTube channels with exclusive video content commissioned from media companies and celebrities.
Providers with their own channels will include Thomson Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, Slate, comedy magazine The Onion, Jay-Z, Ashton Kutcher, Deepak Chopra, Shaquille O'Neal (who will have a comedy channel), and Madonna (with a dance channel).

Sources familiar with the deal say that Google paid advances of more than $100 million to get this content. The artists will be able to earn it back through ad monetization over time. The model is similar to how record labels pay advances to artists, but in this case Google will be exercising no control over the creation or production of the content. It's simply seeding the market.
We've heard several times in recent months that Google is upping its investment in original video content under leader Robert Kynci -- as one source put it, the company would rather fund the next MTV or ESPN than buy them, as it was reportedly considering with a YouTube deal.

Earlier today, Google launched the next version of Google TV, which includes a new YouTube app. The company talked about accessing YouTube content as "channels" -- now it's got some commitments for new content to go on those channels. A list of partners is below.

Electus Channel - Pop Culture (name TBD)
PMC PMC Entertainment News
WWE WWE
Young Hollywood Young Hollywood Network
DanceOn DanceOn (Madonna)
Fine Brothers Films MyMusic
Everyday Health, Inc. Everyday Health TV
TakePart™ TakePart™ TV
Digital Broadcasting Group (DBG) Spaces
Uncommon Content Partners The Conversation Channel
Demand Media eHow Home
SB Nation SB Nation
Magical Elves and InStyle magazine Little Black Dress
Hearst Magazines Channel - Fashion & Beauty Channel (name TBD)
Emil Rensing International Channel - Auto (name TBD)
My Damn Channel My Damn Channel: Live
Uncommon Content Partners Taste & Access
Red Bull Media House North America Red Bull
Machinima Machinima
Katalyst Thrash Lab (Ashton Kutcher)
Steve Spangler Science The Spangler Effect
New Nation Networks New Nation Networks
Smart Girls at the Party Smart Girls at the Party (Amy Poehler)
Bedrocket Media Ventures and Full Picture Productions Look TV
BermanBraun theLOGE
The Young Turks Town Square
BermanBraun & Rodale Inc. Vigor
Electus NuevOn - Latin Channel (Sofia Vergara)
Clevver Media ClevverStyle
ModernMom.com ModernMom Channel
Brady Haran DeepSkyVideos
IconicTV 123UnoDosTres
The Wall Street Journal The Wall Street Journal
Pharrell Williams i am OTHER
SoulPancake Productions SoulPancake (Rainn Wilson)
Chopra Media/Generate The Chopra Well (Deepak Chopra)
Clevver Media ClevverNews
The Bowery Presents The Bowery Presents
Clevver Media ClevverTeVe
Seedwell American Hipster
Hearst Magazines Car and Driver Television
Alchemy Networks Alchemy Networks
CafeMom CafeMom Studios
Bedrocket Media Ventures Channel - Comedy (name TBD)
Demand Media LIVESTRONG
Bedrocket Media Ventures Channel - Action Sports (name TBD)
FremantleMedia Channel - Pets & Animal (name TBD)
Big Frame BAM
IconicTV myISH
Electus Channel - Food (name TBD)
Soccer United Marketing & Bedrocket KickTV
Lionsgate Lionsgate Fitness Channel
East of Center Productions LLC YOMYOMF
EQAL u look haute!
Philip Defranco Sourcefed
Meredith Corporation and Meredith Video Studios Digs
Vlogbrothers CrashCourse
Walter Latham Digital Walter Latham's "Kings of Comedy"
Tony Hawk's production company, 900 Films, Inc. RIDE Channel
JON M. CHU Channel - Dance (name TBD)
Vuguru & POW! Entertainment Stan Lee's World of Heroes
FAWN by Michelle Phan Fawn
DECA KinCommunity
Source Interlink Media Motor Trend
The Nerdist Channel The Nerdist Channel
Comedy Shaq Network The Comedy Shaq Network (Shaquille O’Neal)
Demand Media eHow Pets & Animals
Brady Haran numberphile
Cooking Up a Story Food Farmer Earth
Bleacher Report Bleacher Report
TED Conferences TEDEducation
Intelligent Television Intelligent Channel
Pitchfork Pitchfork TV
Vlogbrothers SciShow
EYEBOOGIE POP SPOT
Roadside Entertainment/BAC The NOC
Alli Sports Alli Sports
The Onion Onion Broadcasting Company
VICE VICE
Smosh/Alloy Digital Smosh Animation (name TBD)
VICE Noisey
Knights of Good Productions Geek & Sundry
Mondo Media New Animators
BermanBraun & Rodale Inc. Taste
Varsity Pictures Awesomeness
Black Box TV Black Box TV (Anthony Zuicker, founder of CSI)
IGN Entertainment / Shine Group START
@radical.media Channel - Education (name TBD)
Frederator Networks Channel Frederator's Cartoon Hangover
monotransistor werevertumorro
Thomson Reuters Reuters.com
Slate Slate News Channel
Maker Studios The Maker Music Network
Maker Studios The Moms' View
Maker Studios Tutele
Noisey VICE
Iconic Life and Times (Jay-Z)

[Business Insider]

GOOGLE AND FTC SETTLE BUZZ PRIVACY ISSUES

Google's lawyers can collectively breathe a sigh of relief, as the FTC has accepted an earlier proposal relating to Buzz's numerous privacy violations. The service -- which already settled one suit and is scheduled for rendezvous with the grim reaper -- was singled out by the commission for misleading users by partially opting them in, even after they had explicitly declined to do so. As punishment, Google will be required to field yearly audits from an independent party for the next twenty years.