Twitter Aiming High in Content Partnerships

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San Francisco-based social networker Twitter has blossomed from microblogging to serving as a multimedia platform, forging relationships with Weather Channel, LLC, ESPN and Turner Broadcasting Network, sharing ad revenues as it streams video content from those networks.

Now comes word from TechCrunch that Twitter has Viacom and Comcast's NBCUniversal in its sites, and may soon be a vehicle for sharing video clips from one or both of those media giants in return for a piece of the ad revenue action. TechCrunch reports that Twitter may have an agreement in place with one or both of Viacom and Comcast as early as next month.

Twitter continues to expand opportunities for its 140-character devotees to share content.

Order a Medley of Your Greatest Tweets of Yore

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Pining away for another look at your favorite 140-character missives from years gone by? San Francisco-based microblogger monolith Twitter has just the cure for you.

According to Law.com's LegalBlogWatch, if you can't already, you'll soon be able to access Your Twitter Archive in the Settings section of your Twitter account. Click on the button and soon a zip file of all your tweets in html. format will be headed your way via Email from your favorite Santa @ Twitter. A similar zip file has been available to Twitter users in the European Union for some time, but has only recently been introduced in the States.

The motivation for poring over your brief bon mots is less nostalgic than it is litigious, according to the Law.com post, as the 140-character messages could be a treasure trove uncovered during the discovery phase of litigation. Presently, tracking down old tweets on the Twitter Web site is a cumbersome process.

So, this holiday season, tell the social media geek in your life about Your Twitter Archive and give him the chance to scroll down the tweets where he's lived.

UPDATE: Another Defamation Suit Twittered Away

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeCount "Cookie Diet" Dr. Sanford Siegal as another mortal who couldn't "keep up" with the Kardashians, specifically, Kim Kardashian, reality tv star of  Kourtney & Kim Take New York and Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Ray J sex-tape co-star, and now-former libel defendant (See "TUOL" post 1/5/10).

The diet doctor's case, Dr. Sanford Siegel & Dr. Siegel's Direct Nutrititonals, LLC v. Kim Kardashian (Case No. 09-93439CA15), filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court for the 11th Judicial Circuit, apparently has been resolved, as the plaintiff last month filed a Voluntary Dismissal motion pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.420(a). Siegel's four-count defamation complaint against the 30-year-old Kardashian alleged his reputation was sullied by purported Kim-Tweets in which she accused Siegel of falsely stating she endorsed his Cookie Diet.

Included among her allegedly defamatory Tweets were: "Dr. Siegel's Diet is falsely promoting that I'm on this Diet. NOT TRUE! I would never do this unhealthy diet! I do Quicktrim!" Also, "If this Dr.Siegel is lying about me being on this diet, what else are they lying about? Not cool!"

Now that the litigation has ended, microbloggers will never know whether the Tweets were incendiary, or just inarticulate. More interesting, from a legal standpoint, as noted by Blog Law Online (www.bloglawonline.blogspot.com)  is the unresolved issue of whether a Web site is liable for a false statement made on the site to which the Web site has linked, as Siegel co-opted articles that appeared elsewhere on the Internet that wrongly stated Kardashian was a Cookie Diet-backer. (Not the same as saying "Kardashian has back," which is undisputed.) Besides sending samples to the Dancing With the Stars also-ran, Dr. Siegel had posted a hyperlink to a Kardashian weight-loss article, which he removed after receiving a lawyer-letter from Kardashian's kounsel, er, counsel.

Twits Can Tweet in English High Court

Image via WikipediaMicroblogging, Email and live-tweeting are permissible in courtrooms with some exceptions, England's Supreme Court has ruled, according to The Guardian.

The policy is less a case of the U.K. Supreme Court being plugged-in, than it is the justices not being concerned about the outside world learning about courtroom doings that do not interfere with witnesses or jurors. The appeal involving Wikileaks founder Julian Assange last December was the first instance in which the high court permitted live-tweeting of the proceedings.

Live tweeting will not be allowed in certain family law matters, among other exceptions.

Tweetin' Multitudes: Twitter Users Exceed 100 Million

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Approximately 105 million users are gamely banging out 140-character messages on the San Francisco-based microblogging sensation Twitter, according to a Reuters news report.

Numerous private companies have developed Web applications enabling Internet surfers to access Twitter, and efforts to make the social networking outlet more accessible via mobile devices, such as cell phones, suggests that millions more will avail themselves of Twitter in the years ahead.

The numbers on which Twitter CEO Evan Williams  is focused, however, are in Twitter's bank account. As posted in "TUOL" yesterday, the company has introduced "Promoted Tweets" as a means to amass revenue from advertisers, such as Sony  and Starbucks, to have their messages appear first in searches.