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Google Removed 'Blocked' Pirate Sites From UK Search ResultsErnesto Van der Sar, 09 Feb 11:36 AM A few weeks ago we noticed that Google had removed

Google Removed 'Blocked' Pirate Sites From UK Search Results Ernesto Van der Sar, 09 Feb 11:36 AM A few weeks ago we noticed that Google had removed several popular pirate sites from its search results. It started with The Pirate Bay in the Netherlands. The controversial torrent site and many of its mirrors and proxies were deindexed by Google after a notice sent by local anti-piracy group BREIN. BREIN informed the search engine that local Internet providers had been ordered to block the domains and asked Google to follow suit. While the search engine previously dismissed the notion of full domain removals, it chose to comply. We have tried to get a comment from Google on the matter but the company hasn't responded. BREIN, however, told us that the search engine's cooperative stance makes sense as it would likely lose a legal battle over the matter, given the existing ISP precedent in court. After we published our findings we noticed that Google had received similar removal requests from other countries, including France, Brazil, and Norway. Again, the flagged pirate site domains were quietly removed from search results in those countries. Google Removes Pirate Domains in the UK At the time, we also spotted a request from the UK law firm Wiggin LLP, which works for several Hollywood studios. This notice included copies of over a dozen ISP blocking orders. These were not processed at the time but, when we checked again this week, the domains were indeed gone. The court orders – some of which are over a decade old – target well over a hundred sites. However, the notice in question only lists a few dozen, such as YTS.mx, YourBitTorrent, Yesmovies, TorrentDay, EZTV, 123Movies, and RARBG.to. People who try to search for these domains won't see them in search results. Instead, Google displays the following notice at the bottom of the page, right above the standard DMCA removal notification. "In response to a legal request submitted to Google, we have removed xx result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read more about the request at LumenDatabase.org." When we investigated further we spotted two other requests from Wiggin LLP, targeting other domains that UK ISPs were ordered to block in the past. These include Levidia.ch, Yify-movies.net, and AZM.to. Although Google is not specifically mentioned in the old court orders, the company presumable chose to comply voluntarily. That news was undoubtedly welcomed with open arms by rightsholders. Interestingly, however, the UK law firm didn't report all blocked domains to Google. The Pirate Bay, arguably the best-known pirate site in the world, remains indexed. That's probably an oversight. In closing, it's worth mentioning that there are strange results at other search engines as well. Bing, for example, still indexes most sites that are listed in UK blocking orders, such as thepiratebay.org and YTS.mx. However, RARBG has gone missing. We're not sure why RARBG's results were removed and Bing provides no further detail. However, some RARBG-related searches on Google suggest that there might be another court order, one that the public can't see. "Google received a request to remove content from our services based on a court order. Due to the nature of the court's order, Google has not provided a copy to Lumen," Google explains. Perhaps we'll find out more about this mysterious order in the future. In the meantime, we expect that more blocking orders will be forwarded to the search engine. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. MPA & ACE Embed Staff at US Govt. IPR Center To Fight Movie & TV Show Piracy Andy Maxwell, 08 Feb 09:25 PM Way back in 2005, the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) teamed up with the then MPAA to take down EliteTorrents, one of the most popular private BitTorrent trackers on the internet. The involvement of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security agency in a copyright infringement case certainly raised eyebrows but over time this type of public/private cooperation became nothing out of the ordinary. As recently as last year, a man was sentenced to 12 months in prison following an investigation into an illegal streaming operation carried out by Homeland Security Investigations, the MPAA, and the IRS. There have been other cases too, and the signs suggest that more will follow. MPA, ACE and Homeland Security Team Up In September 2020, the MPA, anti-piracy coalition Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, and Homeland Security's National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on content protection efforts, including a public awareness campaign. This Monday, following the news that George Bridi, a leader of the Scene piracy group SPARKS, had been sentenced to 22 months in prison, the groups celebrated the sentencing as a success story for their public/private partnership. "The Bridi sentencing is a significant milestone for the MPA, ACE and the IPR Center, as it marks a successful outcome stemming from 'Operation Intangibles,' launched in 2019 by the IPR Center to target pirated materials across the digital ecosystem," the MPA's statement reads. "The IPR Center, in conjunction with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), leveraged their vast authorities and international law enforcement partnerships to intercept and dismantle this criminal organization's cyber piracy network and arrest those allegedly responsible." MPA and ACE Will Now Embed Their Staff at the IPR Center As part of the above statement the MPA also revealed a significant expansion of the partnership agreement signed in 2020. To enhance their ability to fight movie and TV show piracy, MPA and ACE will now embed their own personnel in the team at the IPR Center in Washington D.C. According to the MPA, this embedding will assist the government and law enforcement authorities in their investigations into large-scale copyright infringement operations. However, given that such investigations are usually initiated by the MPA and ACE themselves, it seems more likely that government and law enforcement agency powers will be used to assist copyright holders, not necessarily the other way around. In any event, the MPA says that by embedding its anti-piracy specialists at the IPR Center, HSI field agents will have a "direct line" to their skills and expertise while receiving technical on-the-job training. Expansion Welcomed By HSI and MPA Commenting on the announcement, Steve Francis, Acting Executive Associate Director for HSI, describes digital piracy as a significant threat to the economic security of the United States and as such needs to be taken seriously. "With every investigation, arrest, and subsequent criminal conviction, we are one step closer to creating a safer environment for content creators. These additional resources will enable the IPR Center to crack down on illegal activity around the world involving the unauthorized distribution of pirated digital content," Francis says. Jan van Voorn, Executive Vice President and Chief of Global Content Protection for the MPA, says that the expanded partnership will enable rightsholders to tackle even the most elusive piracy groups and entities. "Through our partnership with the IPR Center, we have dismantled criminal online enterprises that operate as though they are untouchable," van Voorn says. "With the additional resources and the broader scope of the relationship, we're confident law enforcement efforts will continue to yield tangible results that support and protect the creative economy." From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. ©2022 TorrentFreak | Office 21338 PO Box 4336 Manchester, North West M61 0BW United Kingdom Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company