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RIAA stamps its feet again, demands Google improve anti-piracy efforts

Published May 23rd, 2013 7:15PM EDT
RIAA Google Anti-Piracy Criticism

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Shocking as it may seem, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) still isn’t happy with Google’s efforts to stamp out piracy. On its official blog this week, the RIAA once again bemoaned Google’s supposed lack of enthusiasm for removing links to alleged pirated content from its search results. In particular, the RIAA complained that online piracy is still thriving despite the fact that Google has removed 20 million links to alleged piracy sites from its search results.

“Every day produces more results and there is no end in sight,” the RIAA argued. “Importantly, the targets of our notices don’t even pretend to be innovators constructing new and better ways to legally enjoy music — they have simply created business models that allow them to profit from giving someone else’s property away for free. So while 20 million might sound impressive, the problem we face with illegal downloading on the Internet is immeasurably larger.”

The RIAA went on to blast Google for not taking broader approach to blocking alleged piracy sites from its search results and said that the search engine should simply bar repeat offenders from searches.

“It is certainly fair for search engines to say that they have no way of knowing whether a particular link on a specific site represents an illegal copy or not,” the RIAA wrote. “Perhaps it’s fair for them to make that same claim at the second notice. But what about after a thousand notices for the same song on the same site? Isn’t it simply logical and fair at some point to conclude that such links are infringing without requiring content owners to keep expending time and resources to have the link taken down?”

The RIAA lobbed similar complaints at Google earlier this year when it claimed that it has “found no evidence that Google’s policy has had a demonstrable impact on demoting sites with large amounts of piracy.”

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.