New York - The federal judge presiding over Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube on Thursday ruled that Google (NASD: GOOG) will not have to turn over source code for its search technology for the proceedings, but will have to provide user data on who viewed which videos on YouTube, as well as copies of every video ever removed from the site for copyright violations, or any other reason.

Google successfully argued before U.S. District Court Judge Louis L. Stanton that the search-related source code was a trade secret.

However, the judge's ruling that compels Google to turn over data on the viewing habits of YouTube users has raised privacy concerns.

"The privacy fallout of this ruling is spectacular," Michael Arrington noted on TechCrunch, while digital civil liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) noted that the decision may violate the Video Privacy Protection Act.

That law was passed after a newspaper disclosed the video rental history of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, and Congress recognized that such information should be considered private.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/2tfb8 (TechCrunch)

http://snipurl.com/2tfe1 (EFF statement)

http://snipurl.com/2tffg (PaidContent)