Google Removes Links in Response to DMCA Complaint
dioscaido writes "If you search Google for Kazaa Lite, you'll find the results a bit lacking. Ironically enough, Sharman Networks, using the DMCA, filed a legal complaint to block Kazaa Lite sites. " Google links the DMCA request at the end of the results which contain the URLs in question, but the URLs aren't really the point. It's scary that the DMCA makes URLs a copyright violation. How long before libraries can't index books? Or own them?
KazaaLite is a hack of Kazaa, and thus blatant piracy. But Kazaa itself is dubious stuff, filled with spyware. Sigh. Perhaps we will see a version of KazaaLite distributed through Kazaa?
Ceci n'est pas une signature
Is this the beginning of the end? When google stops returning the results I am looking for, it is time to start looking for a new search engine that will.
This is hilarious:
Before I even had a chance to scroll down the page to look at the DMCA message, I noticed that the Adwords are full of links to Kazaa Lite!
I guess Google's financial team is a little tougher than their search team.
Unfortunately, the same message is displayed on the google.co.uk version, where the DCMA should have no effect - why can't they just have the restriction on the .com site?
I have just tried Kazaa Lite on various other search engines and meta search engines, and without fail they return at least one of the forbidden 8 sites that Google removes:
Altavista
Webcrawler
Teoma
Dogpile
Obviously not a comprehensive effort (I have a 3yr old son to entertain right now and that's much more important!), but it leads to the conclusion that either the complainant thinks the world revolves around Google OR the other sites haven't checked their mail yet!
As others have pointed out, the genie is out of the bottle and so semi-hiding the links is going to be pointless. I loved the written up DMCA complaint--putting the list of banned sites on it is kind of like having an English test question that says: Write down the correct spelling of following word: 'incomprehensible'? .
AT&ROFLMAO
Apparently there are pieces of information that Americans are not allowed to write down. We are definitely edging towards thought crime here. Between this and the illegality of writing virii (i know its spelled wrong but it looks better), we are on our way! I just wonder when someone will get punished for writing these things with pen & paper instead of electronically...