Midweek IP Trend: Google copyright removal request tool
Google recently disclosed data regarding copyright infringement online, revealing that it receives 250,000 requests to remove links to pirated content each week. The transparency report generated a lot of buzz in the media and on social networks, dominating all the intellectual property debates. The report confirms the high levels of piracy (more than double in comparison with 2011), but also shifts the focus towards the rights holders and the reporting organisations. A great PR source for Google, this report seems to be Google way of saying that they successfully tackle online piracy.
Interesting is, as one editor of the Ars Technica blog mentioned today, that the first thing one can notice when taking a look at the report is that Microsoft is number 1 in the top of reporting organisations. This led to a lot of ink spilled on debating how Microsoft is “plagued by software piracy” , highlighting Microsoft’s problems and the scale of removal requests.
An insightful analysis comes from CNN, which debates the reasons Google had to publicize this information, taking into account the company’s fight against the controversial SOPA and PIPA. The question that arises is how transparent the online transparent report actually is? We just see the irony, as our monitoring technology SnifferDog constantly tracks Google in top 10 of advertisers supporting pirate content online...
In the meantime, Google is currently waving its victory in front of French culture producers and expects greater acceptance, after emerging winner from a copyright infringement YouTube case brought by France’s largest TV network 4 years ago.