Google Kissed MPAA Cooperation Goodbye

[CosaNostra]

    The search giant has delivered a major blow to torrent websites within the last few weeks, and the MPAA was supposed to be happy with Google’s efforts. However, the Motion Picture Association of America criticized the company. This so infuriated Google's top brass that the search engine decided to break its anti-piracy cooperation with the MPAA.

    The company spends enormous efforts on removing millions of infringing search results at the notices of the copyright owners: last week there were over 9 million of such requests, and the company usually removes these links within hours of receiving a complaint. But this doesn’t seem to matter much for the MPAA. Whatever Google does, it is never enough – the MPAA cries that more can be done.

    One should admit that this October Google really did a great job to downrank pirate websites. Those with high numbers of DMCA notices now appear lower in search results. Within days it became clear that BitTorrent services had been hit hard. But instead of acknowledging Google’s efforts, the MPAA issued a press release, claiming that the company facilitates access to stolen content via search. Apparently, the company’s top management became furious after that statement and told the MPAA that it would no longer “speak or do business†with the anti-piracy group. So, now the tech giant would communicate with the movie studios directly, as those welcomed the company’s efforts, unlike the MPAA.

    It looks like the Motion Picture Association of America simply had no time to assess the changes introduced by Google in place, and therefore could not assess whether they would work. Perhaps, the entertainment industry doesn’t want to welcome changes that may fail to perform in future.