Fans protest Comedy Central's demand that YouTube yank videos

Following on previous news that YouTube has removed thousands of Comedy Central clips at the orders of Viacom lawyers (previous BB post), Mark Glaser says,

On Monday, I posted an open letter to Stephen Colbert about Viacom asking YouTube to pull down his videos and other Viacom shows on the video-sharing site. I noted that Colbert has been very savvy in his use of the web and this move didn't jibe with the way he treated his fans. His fans have since flooded my blog and other fan blogs protesting the Viacom move, and the company has pulled back somewhat and allowed clips on YouTube while negotiating an ad deal with the company.

Key passage:

"We in the Colbert Nation are sickened by the recent news that heavy-handed trial lawyers at Viacom, representing Comedy Central, have asked YouTube to force its users to remove video clips from "The Colbert Report," "The Daily Show," and "South Park." While those lawyers have legal standing to do this, it goes against the spirit of Internet sharing and viral promotion — two phenomena that have helped make your show so popular in the first place. It just doesn't sound like you, Stephen, baby."

Link to "Open Letter -- Stephen Colbert: Don't Love and Leave YouTube."

See also this post from Mark, "Your Guide to Wikis."