Google And Bing Clamp Down On Online Piracy

The search giants Google and Bing have signed up to a code of practice that will see them clamp down on online pirate sites in the UK. Due to be in operation by summer 2017, the agreement will mean that websites offering pirated films, television shows, or live streaming of sporting events, will appear much further down the results lists of both search engines. Both Google and Microsoft reached the agreement with the entertainment and sports companies responsible for the distribution of the media affected by piracy. The lowering of pirate search results was also done to prevent more innocent visits to the offending sites. Eddy Leviten, from the Alliance for Intellectual Property, said that people will sometimes “search for something and they will end up unwittingly being taken to a pirated piece of content”. Meanwhile, Geoff Taylor from the music industry body the BPI, said that whilst it was not a complete fix for piracy issues, the deal meant that “fans searching for music are more likely to find a fair site".

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