A federal judge denied Viacom’s claim for punitive damages in its $1 billion copyright lawsuit against Google/YouTube. Viacom can still sue for damages, with statutory penalties for copyright violation ranging from $750 to $30,000 per violation (or up to a whopping $150,000 if the infringement was committed willfully).

Funnily enough, Judge Louis Stanton’s ruling today came almost one year to the day after Viacom filed the suit heard ’round the online world (if you’ve forgotten the finer points of this case, check out our handy CliffsNotes version). You’ll have plenty of time to get caught up this year as the case is just getting warmed up.

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China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has ordered leading Chinese video-sharing site Tudou to shut down, according to reports from Netease (the original source, though apparently the story has been taken down) and Sohu. The shutdown is reportedly over government concern that Tudou is hosting pornographic and other banned content.

I don’t read Chinese, and some of the reports themselves may have been censored, but what makes this story all the more inconclusive is the fact that Tudou has been up and running the whole time the rumors have been flying. The company is denying that it received a shutdown order; we have not yet heard back regarding our request for comment.

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The Writers Guild of America this afternoon says the ballots are in and the winner is (drum roll)…the new contract! Of 4,060 members in New York and Los Angeles who participated, 3,802 (93.6 percent) voted ‘yea’ on the new deal, which runs through April of 2011, according to an emailed press release. The WGA cites five groundbreaking wins for writers, all in new media — jurisdiction, separated rights, residuals calculated based on gross, and access to information in order to monitor the emerging business of online streaming and downloads.

Now the AMPTP has to make nice with the Screen Actors Guild by June 30th. In an email response to the WGA announcement, the production association wrote: “Now that our industry is back in business, our goal is to collaborate with everyone in the industry - writers, directors, actors and stagehands alike - to produce the highest-quality entertainment products without any further interruption.” SAG is reportedly considering holding the type of informal negotiation that was widely credited with resolving the Director’s Guild of America and WGA terms.

Listening to the FCC hearing today, which was called in response to Comcast throttling BitTorrent traffic on its network, it seemed like Chairman Kevin Martin may be rethinking his laissez-faire stance on Network Neutrality. Martin said that network management practices should be “open and transparent” to the end user and that the FCC would be “willing and able” to intercede in cases of abuse. Read more on GigaOM.

Broadcasters will be able to choose between the federally mandated guidelines or those set forth by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) for informing the public about the upcoming transition from analog to digital signals, according to an FCC report due to be released as early as today, reports the Washington Post. The NAB had already won more leeway in implementing the switch from a technical perspective.

The article cites consumer groups and members of Congress urging stronger steps to educate the public. Broadcast industry officials, meanwhile, have wanted more flexibility in getting the message out to customers. The NAB and cable companies have pledged a total of $1.2 billion toward outreach efforts. Only 360 days remain until the switch, when anyone left with traditional rabbit ears atop their sets will get nothing but static.

With Comcast blocking BitTorrent (and staunchly defending its right to do so today), AT&T’s ideas about monitoring your traffic and a raft of other ISPs including provisions in their terms of service that allow anti-P2P measures, suddenly Net Neutrality is a hot topic again. Taking up the cause against Big Broadband is Democratic Massachusetts Congressman Edward Markey. Yesterday he introduced the “Internet Freedom Preservation Act 2008,” which explores the issue of Net Neutrality. Yet there doesn’t seem to be consensus as to what the bill actually proposes to do.

According to The Wall Street Journal, “The bill would give the Federal Communications Commission more authority to police Internet providers to make sure they’re delivering traffic fairly.” But Multichannel News reports that the measure places more emphasis on data collection by the FCC and would not grant the commission any power to regulate broadband providers.

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Next year’s switch from analog to digital TV broadcasts could produce more noise than signal, disrupting service for millions of people even if they have the proper converter box, according to a new study from market research firm Centris.

Centris says that the FCC has underestimated the size of the problem. At issue is the distance digital TV signals can travel, and how interference from hills or even trees will impact reception. Analog signals degrade gradually (hence the “snowy” picture), while digital signals just drop off entirely. Centris predicts that in a city like Philadelphia, which has a lot of hills, five percent of the over-the-air TVs could lose reception.

Taking issue with the Centris report is the Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV). It is still evaluating the study, but doesn’t believe the problems will be as widespread as Centris claims. In the case of New York, broadcasters have had issues since 9/11 with stations having to move from the World Trade Center to the Empire State Building, MTSV notes.

The FCC itself has acknowledged that some disruption to service may be unavoidable with the digital transition, and is looking to launch a full-on ad blitz to educate the public. Roughly 15.5 million U.S. homes still receive TV over the air. Lawmakers are concerned that the switch will impact seniors and low-income residents who won’t hear about the news.

Privately held online video companies in China are breathing a sigh of relief after the government eased up on ownership rules that were set to take effect this past weekend. The government had initially been set to prohibit anyone other than state-owned or state-controlled companies from streaming or broadcasting videos online, but has now has backed away from that hard-line stance, saying that privately held companies are prohibited from entering the online video market, but video companies that existed before the new rules can continue to operate.

Despite its softened stance, the specter of the Chinese government still looms large. As the CEO of China’s leading video portal, Tudou, told The LA Times, “We are still alive and well and in business as of today, but we don’t really know what will happen next.”

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