UK Secretary of Culture calls on internet firms to take action against illegal fileharing sites

Recently we reported that the Secretary of Culture, Jeremy Hunt, would give a speech following the anti-piracy campaign by the British government. Hunts goal is to make it harder for illegal fileharing sites to be successful. He wants online search engines, like Google, to take more measures to prevent access to illegal filesharing sites.

In addition to online search engine Google, Jeremy Hunt also calls on online advertisers and credit card companies to cut their ties with websites that link to illegal files.Hunt denied that blocking access to pirate sites is an attack on net neutrality. He says the illegal distribution of copyright protected material is theft and a direct attack on the freedom and rights of authors.

Hunt did not mention whether Google's search results should be monitored and scanned before they are displayed to the users. Ideally, Hunt would just like to see Google remove  illegal filesharing sites from the search engine completely.

Google said that the full removal of the illegal filesharing sites from the search engine was unlikely. “Without a court order, any copyright owner can already use our removals process to inform us of copyright infringing content and have it removed from Google Search,” the firm stated. According to Google, their policies are sufficient. Last year the company removed three million illegal items from the search engine.

The changes proposed by Hunt will be implemented in the new Communications Act. According to the plan, the new Communications Act will go into force in 2015. The proposed changes include the following:

• A cross-industry body, perhaps modelled on the Internet Watch Foundation, to be charged with identifying infringing websites against which action could be taken.
• A streamlined legal process to make it possible for the courts to act quickly.
• A responsibility on search engines and ISPs to take reasonable steps to make it harder to access sites that a court has deemed contain unlawful content or promote unlawful distribution of content.
• A responsibility on advertisers to take reasonable steps to remove their advertisements from these sites.
• A responsibility on credit card companies and banks to remove their services from these sites.

The hope is that these measures will sit alongside the Digital Economy Act (DEA). The DEA has not yet entered into force. The UK government awaits the European Parliaments approval to change the DEA.

Jim Killock, executive chief of the Open Rights Group, disagrees with Hunt. According to Killock it’s not wise to let credit card companies or Google decide who’s guilty of copyright infringing, as this could set a dangerous precedent. Killock reported that it appears the government has taken a step back to the difficult issue of the permanent blocking of illegal filesharing sites, an idea that the government recently renounced.

It will be interesting to see if  Hunts tough measures will be included in the law and whether the concerned parties like the search engines, advertisers and credit card companies, will willingly cooperate or will resist.

Read more about the UK and illegal filesharing sites on FutureofCopyright.com:

• UK government puts pressure on Google to hinder search for filesharing platforms
• UK government presents policy package on the reform of IP law
• UK withdraws plan to block illegal filesharing sites

Reference: BBC News

By: Karen Groen