In a digital world so obsessed with intellectual property, "just compensation" and DRM, this was an encouraging bit of news. Viacom has decided to put one of their most popular shows, The Daily Show, up onto the Internet as a freely accessible resource for anyone.
The entire show, spanning eight years of content, will be available free of charge to anyone who wants to watch it. They'll be coupling it with advertisements, which is truly no surprise to anyone. Interestingly, this move is somewhat stark contrast to Viacom's decision to sue Google over clips of their shows showing up on YouTube. Whether or not their decision to release the show on the Internet will have an impact on their YouTube case remains yet to be seen.