Google: MPAA tries to counter us – update

The American film lobbying club MPAA is actively trying to thwart Google. Google accuses the organization of this. According to Google, the MPAA is even trying to breathe new life into the controversial, lapsed Sopa legislation through other means.

Following reports by The New York Times and The Verge, Google accuses the MPAA of revitalizing Sopa legislation. That bill would make it easier for copyright owners to take illegal content offline. That law would also make it possible to block websites via the DNS system.

The legislation was shot down, but the MPAA would consider pressuring DNS providers to get them to block download sites anyway. In addition, the MPAA would have hired lawyers to tackle Google, including by supporting prosecutors in the fight against the company. The MPAA has argued for years that Google is doing too little against piracy.

For example, the organization would even have engaged a law firm to write a subpoena that a prosecutor sent to Google. In it, the prosecutor, Jim Hood, claims, among other things, information about advertisements on Google and search results for banned substances and stolen credit card numbers.

The MPAA would also try to introduce stricter rules for advertising and search results for banned substances in search engines. Those rules could then also be applied to links to illegal content, the organization argues.

E-mails leaked during the Sony hack already showed that the MPAA and Google would no longer be able to go through the same door. Google is said to be angry about the MPAA’s response to an anti-piracy measure taken by Google. The search giant announced that it would place sites that receive many takedown requests lower in the search results, but the MPAA reacted lukewarm.

Update, 15:14: The MPAA has denied Google’s allegations. “Google’s attempt to portray itself as a defender of free speech is shameful,” the organization said, according to The Verge.