Google knocks Viacom tactics in piracy suit

By Eric Auchard

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc. (GOOG.O) is ready to introduce a copyright protection tool that helps media owners to automatically report acts of piracy on its YouTube video site, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Tuesday.

Schmidt said the new tools, known as "Claim Your Content," could resolve accusations that the world's largest provider of Web search services is tolerating piracy by consumers to share video on its YouTube Web site.

That complaint is featured in a high-profile lawsuit filed last month by media conglomerate Viacom Inc. (VIA.N) that seeks more than $1 billion in damages from Google for alleged violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

"As that product rolls out, the issue becomes moot," Schmidt said in response to an interviewer's question about how the tool might affect the suit. "We are automating that process to claim that content."

He was speaking at the Web 2.0 Expo conference in San Francisco this week. Google paid $1.65 billion last November to acquire YouTube, the world's most popular online video sharing site.

Interviewer John Batelle, author of the best-selling history of Google, "The Search," asked whether Schmidt sees the Viacom lawsuit as "a negotiating tactic" tied to talks on what sorts of licensing payments Google might make to Viacom for YouTube viewers watching its popular TV programming.

"I do," Schmidt replied.

Earlier, Schmidt said Google was set to introduce software for creating meeting presentations online, offering a twist on Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT.O) popular PowerPoint tool.