Wall Street Journal‘s Personal Tech Guy Says Consumers Are Losers

Says the white-goateed Walt Mossberg: “Viacom wants to get paid more than Google wants to pay it for all of those fuzzy, two-minute clips from programs like the Daily Show that users post to YouTube. The companies tried to negotiate a deal, but the talks failed, so Viacom is suing for $1 billion. I am not a lawyer, and I have no idea how this lawsuit will wind up. I suspect it is mainly a bargaining tactic by Viacom. But I know one thing: This fight isn’t primarily about consumers and their rights, and its outcome won’t necessarily make things better for Internet users.”

MEDIABISTRO EVENTS

Get Social Media Marketing Secrets from Experts

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.