The suits down at Comedy Central apparently are worried that people aren’t watching The Daily Show on their channel — what, with its good sound and video quality — but instead are choosing to watch their show solely through crappy little YouTube clips that people have been posting at the site. Legally, they have a leg to stand on, but the suits don’t realize that (a) nobody really does that, and (b) YouTube is the greatest advertising for a hip show like The Daily Show there could be.

I mean, you have enough people dragging you to their machine (or sending you e-mails with links) to show you what really funny thing Jon Stewart said yesterday — and sooner or later you’re either going to watch the thing, or record it, or at least pass on news to those folks who can. It’s publicity by piracy, but it’s a powerful meme that’s almost certainly gained the channel more viewers than it’s lost.

Ah, well. They’ve slapped YouTube with a DMCA Cease-and-Desist order, regardless. So … fewer people will end up seeing TDS, and fewer people will talk about it. I’m pretty sure that’s not their intent, but it’s what will be the result. Darned clever, in a way that isn’t.