Hollywood was accused by Google of trying to revive the failed Stop Online Piracy Act, which was supposed to enable wholesale website filtering. Google claims that Hollywood studios, via the MPAA, decided to push through the effects of SOPA using non-legislative measures. The search giant alleges that the MPAA led a secret, coordinated campaign to revive the failed bill and helped bring legal arguments in connection with a recent court investigation.
As you might know, SOPA was a legislation put before the US House of Representatives supposed to significantly expand the powers of American authorities to fight Internet trafficking in copyrighted and counterfeited goods.
SOPA gave rights owners the power to request court orders to forbid advertising networks including Google and payment facilities from doing business with infringing websites. Copyright owners could also ban search engines from linking to infringing websites and receive court orders that demand ISPs to block access to those online services.
However, this bill was defeated two years ago despite the backing of the MPAA thanks to a public outcry, which prompted about 115,000 sites, including Google, to protest against SOPA. A petition against the bill was signed by 10 million people; 8 million made phone calls to Congress, and 4 million sent emails.
Now Google points at news reports accusing the movie outfit and 6 studios of colluding in order to start a new campaign intended to secretly revive SOPA. The search giant alleges that the industry is trying to achieve wholesale website blocking by convincing state prosecutors to take up the fight against the company.
In the meantime, in the United Kingdom, the rights owners are able to seek court orders in order to force broadband providers to block access to online portals they deem as infringing copyright. Such portals as The Pirate Bay have been blocked in the country since 2012.
According to media reports, the movie studios allocated $500,000 annually for legal support, which was increased to $1.175 million for this campaign.
Google is particularly disappointed with what this all means for the Motion Picture Association of America itself, a group founded in part to promote and defend the First Amendment and artists’ right to free expression, which is now for some reason trying to secretly censor the web.
As you might know, SOPA was a legislation put before the US House of Representatives supposed to significantly expand the powers of American authorities to fight Internet trafficking in copyrighted and counterfeited goods.
SOPA gave rights owners the power to request court orders to forbid advertising networks including Google and payment facilities from doing business with infringing websites. Copyright owners could also ban search engines from linking to infringing websites and receive court orders that demand ISPs to block access to those online services.
However, this bill was defeated two years ago despite the backing of the MPAA thanks to a public outcry, which prompted about 115,000 sites, including Google, to protest against SOPA. A petition against the bill was signed by 10 million people; 8 million made phone calls to Congress, and 4 million sent emails.
Now Google points at news reports accusing the movie outfit and 6 studios of colluding in order to start a new campaign intended to secretly revive SOPA. The search giant alleges that the industry is trying to achieve wholesale website blocking by convincing state prosecutors to take up the fight against the company.
In the meantime, in the United Kingdom, the rights owners are able to seek court orders in order to force broadband providers to block access to online portals they deem as infringing copyright. Such portals as The Pirate Bay have been blocked in the country since 2012.
According to media reports, the movie studios allocated $500,000 annually for legal support, which was increased to $1.175 million for this campaign.
Google is particularly disappointed with what this all means for the Motion Picture Association of America itself, a group founded in part to promote and defend the First Amendment and artists’ right to free expression, which is now for some reason trying to secretly censor the web.
0 comments:
Post a Comment