With YouTube becoming the biggest ‘thing’ on the net, you would expect the distribution channel to grow and grow. But not last April. When the fresh TV episodes returned after the writers’ strike last winter, online video viewing fell 4.2%.

In the US, about 11 billion videos were viewed in April, down from 11.5 billion the month before. Because when ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and ‘House’ returned, millions of people left their computers for dead, to return to their loved TV Sets.

135 million people (down from 139 million in March) watched an average of 82 videos. That’s 71% of the online audience, with about 228 minutes per viewer.

I reckon that’s the time the average person spends watching TV in a day. Maybe online video isn’t yet such a big threat as some make it out to be?

A $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube is threatening people’s exchange of information on the internet, Google Inc. said. The claim was made as a reaction to Viacom Inc., who says YouTube was responsible for “an explosion of copyright infringement.” And YouTube owes them the money for illegally showing material from MTV, Comedy Central and other networks.

Although YouTube got famous for letting people upload any content they wanted, it is true they are working hard to eliminate illegal content these days. Google said their YouTube “goes far beyond its legal obligations in assisting content owners to protect their works.” And Viacom wants to hold carriers and providers responsible for what people share, which “threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment and political and artistic expression.” It seems like Google wants to turn this into a net neutrality debate.