Google Talks about Its Initiatives to Battle Copyright Infringement

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 07 Sep 2011

Copyright infringement is a problem that Mountain View-based search engine giant Google takes seriously. To tackle this problem, Google announced the implementation of four initiatives – that was back in December, 2010. This September, Google announced that the aforementioned initiatives are going well and that progress is made on each front. Let’s take a quick look at the four initiatives, shall we?

Quickly respond to reliable takedown requests
Back in December, Google said it will build tools that rightsholders can easily use to submit takedown requests for Google products. Google also said that rightsholders who use these tools responsibly, the average response time will be of up to 24 hours.

This September, Google announced that the tools have been built, were released to the public, and they are already beng successfully used by more than a dozen content industry partners – partners who for more than 75% of all URLs submitted in DMCA takedowns for Web Search. Google also announced that its response time for takedown requests is well below 24 hours.

No piracy-related terms in Autocomplete

When you start typing something in Google search, Autocomplete starts throwing suggestions based on what you’re typing. Back in December Google said it will no longer display terms associated with piracy in Autocomplete. This September, Google announced that filtering terms closely associated with infringement from Google Autocomplete is going well.

No AdSense on Piracy-related sites
Google has always prohibited the use of AdSense on sites that offer infringing materials. Back in December, Google explained that it will work with rightsholders to identify and expel violators from the AdSense program. This September, Google explained that it remained true to its word and continued to work hard on improving its internal enforcement procedures. Proof of this is the fact that Google is among the first companies to certify compliance in the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB’s) Quality Assurance Certification program.

Make authorized content more visible

While Google works hard to fight copyright infringement and infringing content, it also does its best to make authorized content more readily accessible in search results. Back in December, Google said it will look into ways to make legitimate content easier to index and find. This September, Google announced that as part of its efforts, it launched Music Rich Snippets. With Music Rich Snippets, authorized music sites can make their preview content stand out in search results.

“These four initiatives have been an important part of our work combating piracy these last several months, but we’ve been pursuing other avenues as well. We continue to believe that making high-value content available in authorized forms is a crucial part of the battle against online infringement,” commented Kent Walker, Senior Vice President and General Counsel.


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