Tech giants, Google and Microsoft have agreed to clamp down on piracy in the UK. This agreement comes after much deliberation with the UK Government, record labels and film studios according to reports by The Telegraph.
With Google and Microsoft both previously being accused by the entertainment industry of turning a bling eye to piracy, this first of its kind deal will see Google and Microsoft’s Bing demote UK search results of copyright infringing websites. Under the “code of practice”, Bing and Google have agreed to remove links to infringing content from the first page of results a report by CNBC states.
The agreement was brokered by the U.K. Intellectual Property Office (IPO), the government department that deals with patents and copyright issues, who called it a “landmark” deal.
The code is a voluntary one and the IPO will continuously monitor how Google and Bing respond over the next few months. It is thought that if there is no noticeable improvement further action will be recommended in the summer by the Business Secretary Greg Clark which could lead to legislation that imposes fines or other measures.
Jo Johnson, U.K. minister of state for universities, science, research and innovation, said in a press release on Monday that “Consumers are increasingly heading online for music, films, e-books, and a wide variety of other content. It is essential that they are presented with links to legitimate websites and services, not provided with links to pirate sites.”
On the 9th of February the code was agreed and will come into force immediately. It also sets targets for reducing the visibility of infringing content in search results by June 1, 2017.
Staff Writer
As much as they try combat piracy, people will find a way around it. The owners of the pirated material need to look at a pricing structure where it makes the material more affordable which is the prime reason pirate it in the first place. An example of this is the cost of Microsoft Office complete suite. It costs more than the average monthly salary in South Africa and would be deemed an extreme luxury. The same goes for music and films.