Marshals Service Investigates Video Rants Against YouTube Judge
Someone who goes by the name Cap’n Awesome isn’t happy with the Manhattan judge handling Viacom’s $1 billion infringement lawsuit against YouTube. The Cap’n has posted a YouTube video, rated five stars, that features liberal use of the F-word and a crude name for U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton.
InsaneClownPerv, who has a problem with spelling, went further, according to Judicial Reports, a blog published by the Institute for Judicial Studies. His video criticizes Stanton and Viacom and repeats the words “die, die, die.”
They are among 34 posted YouTube videos that accuse Stanton of everything from senility to bestiality, the blog says. Never mind that the decision prompting the criticism is no longer in effect because of an agreement between the companies.
Judicial Reports informed the U.S. Marshals Service about the video threats, prompting the agency to open an investigation. Spokesman Steve Blando told the blog that judicial threats are increasing along with the growth in blogs, discussion boards and video-sharing sites.
The Stanton videos criticize the judge for ordering YouTube’s owner, Google, to turn over to Viacom records of customers’ user names and IP addresses, along with records of videos they watched on YouTube. Viacom wanted the information to prove that infringing material is more popular than user-created videos.
Lawyers for the companies have since reached an agreement to release the information without revealing the identity of YouTube users.
