Thursday, 30 May 2013 12:29

NBC Univseral Asks Google to Delist Mega Over A Single Title - Google Says No

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In something of an unprecedented move NBC Universal and Warner Bothers Music have asked that Google delist the entire Mega website over copyright concerns. Now requesting that a link that points to copyrighted material be removed from Google, Bing, or any other search engine is nothing new and not, in itself, a big deal. However this is not a simple request to remove a single copy of a movie or song, it is asking for the WHOLE site to be delisted. This type of wholesale delisting ignores the fact that while there might indeed be copyrighted files on Mega’s servers there are others that are completely legal including movies and music from independent artists that use Mega as a sharing platform. It highlights the claims by some that the argument against Mega and Megaupload before that is not about actual copyright, but about the service and the threat is could pose to the copyright industry.

Fortunately Google also feels that the request to delist the entire Mega site is an extreme move and has rejected the request (as they should). We have no doubt that NBC Universal and Warner Bothers will try again or someone else will. There is too much bad blood between the two groups for things to settle down and return to normal. After all both of these companies were part of the original group that pushed for the takedown and seizure of Megaupload which is still an open case with more questions than answers.

Mega’s founder Kim Dotcom says that this is all expected behavior and only continues because the current US administration is supporting it. He has previously claimed that the original order for Megaupload’s seizure came from Vice President Joe Biden after meeting with Hollywood executives. With this latest move you can sort of see the point. NBC Universal is asking for a complete site delisting based on a claim of copyright infringement on a single title “Gangster Squad” yet they seem to think that getting rid of the whole site is the way to do this. Something is not quite right with that type of logic. We also wonder how long it will be before they try to takedown Mega using the same tactics they used with Megaupload… They are surely working on it, but due to the way Mega is hosted, registered, and protected this will not be as easy as it was the last time which is exactly what Kim Dotcom wanted. It really is too bad that the entertainment industry has shown they are not above bending the laws to get their way so it is only a matter of time before they try another takedown.

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Read 6099 times Last modified on Thursday, 30 May 2013 12:31

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