Viacom clearly hasn't a clue. While other networks grin and bear it, and reap the rewards of increased profile and free advertising; Viacom has seen red and decided to take YouTube (and therefore Google) to court for $1 billion smackers.

But YouTube DO have a problem. Unlike BitTorrent that merely acts as a transfer protocol between machines, YouTube are the host. They convert, host and present videos to the general public and it doesn't make any difference if that material is a cat climbing a curtain or Jon Stewart latest attack on the latest US Senator to put his head above the parapet.

So Viacom in a sense have a point. But the bigger picture is that without YouTube thousands of people in the US and many more in the UK would never have realised how good the Daily Show is or to be bothered to find out what channel it is on.

Just so you know, you can check out on More4 in the UK. That's Channel 13 on FreeView or if you are a Sky customer, it's 142. In fact, it's on as I write this!

So are Viacom justified in trying to clamp down on copyright infringment? Perhaps.
Are they mental for forgoing the millions of dollars of free advertising they are getting? Oh, yes. Absolutely. Totally insane.

Well done Viacom