Google helps Australia crack down on piracy by tweaking search results
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Google has joined Australia in the fight to stop Aussies from getting their hands on downloading or consuming pirated content.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The search engine giant has voluntarily agreed to remove sites that facilitate copyright infringement from its search results.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to the </span><em><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/from-enemies-to-allies-google-removes-piracy-websites-from-search-results-20190510-p51m55.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sydney Morning Herald</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Google has reached a voluntary agreement with Australian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and content rights holders to de-index sites that have been blocked by internet providers under recent laws.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This means that content rights holders won’t have to take Google to court to force the company to remove offending sites from search results.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It also means that pirated content on websites will be harder to find if you’re using Google as a search engine.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Back in 2015, the Federal Government passed legislation that paved the way for court-ordered blocking of websites that hosted material in breach of copyright.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By 2018, the Federal Court had ordered 65 piracy sites to be blocked and more than 378 related domains.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Google confirmed to </span><em><a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/piracy/google-joins-australias-piracy-crackdown-by-tweaking-search-results/news-story/3825f9a6831f8672ee84342faed36a46"><span style="font-weight: 400;">news.com.au</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that they have joined Australia in the fight against piracy.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Google supports effective industry-led measures to fight piracy,” a company spokesperson said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Graham Burke, the chairman of Creative Content Australia and outgoing chief executive of Australian film distribution company Village Roadshow had previously been vocal about Google as he believed it was “complicit” in piracy.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, due to the backing from the search engine giant, he has changed his tune. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We’ve gone from being enemies to being allies … because I believe Google is doing the right thing by Australians,” he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Pirates’ business model is robbing and scamming people, they have sophisticated ways to take your information. Google has come down on the side that is right.”</span></p>
