Hunt asks search engines & ISPs to back anti-piracy

Speaking at the Royal Television Society’s Cambridge Convention on Wednesday, the Secretary of State for Culture, Jeremy Hunt proposed new measures, stating that Google and other search engines should take a tougher line on sites offering unlawful access to copyrighted material.

The proposals also included suggestions that internet service providers (ISPs) should bar links to websites hosting pirated material, advertisers should withdraw advertisements from pirate websites and financial entities should not deal with transactions involving sites offering up illegal content for sale.

He said:
"We do not allow certain products to be sold in the shops on the high street, nor do we allow shops to be set up purely to sell counterfeited products... likewise we should be entitled to make it more difficult to access sites that are dedicated to the infringement of copyright. Sites that are misleading customers and denying creators fair reward for their work."

Earlier this year, the high court ruled that BT should block Newzbin2, a website sharing films, music and other copyrighted materials. Currently the only sites that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) bar access to are those hosting child pornography.

The Newzbin2 case set a precedent, shifting pressure onto ISPs to do more to block unlawful access to copyrighted content.

Mr Hunt rejected claims that his proposals would affect freedom of speech: "Fundamental to our concept of both freedom and the law is that it should apply to everyone without fear or favour. This means it must apply equally in the virtual world as in the physical world."

A spokesman for Google who already have a series of measures in place for dealing with such sites commented yesterday: "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."

Mr Hunt has pledged to pursue legislative solutions for search engines and ISPs who do not voluntarily comply with his proposals.
 

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