A federal court earlier this month ordered Google's YouTube to hand over usernames, IP addresses, and viewing histories to Viacom sparking a controversy over Internet privacy.

Angry YouTube users protested the court ruling by uploading "Viacom sucks" videos and calling for mass boycotts of the giant Viacom which includes Paramount Pictures and MTV.

This week Viacom and the other litigants backed off their demand for YouTube user viewing histories and an agreement was reached with Google to anonymize the data. While some YouTube users say Viacom is now "off the hook" for intruding on people's online privacy, others question why Google was allowed to amass and use all this private data in the first place.

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