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Google To Block Piracy-Related Terms From Autocomplete
An anonymous reader writes "Google is making changes in the way it presents web search results to try to exclude links that may be tied to pirated content. In a move enthusiastically praised by the RIAA, Google says it will not include terms closely associated with piracy from appearing via autocomplete. The company acknowledged that it can be hard to know what terms are being used to find infringing content, but 'we'll do our best to prevent Autocomplete from displaying the terms most frequently used for that purpose.'"
Actually - I'd love it if Google Took this approach.
Google: Okay. We've done as you've asked, we removed references to piracy in autocomplete, now wheres our money?
RIAA: What the hell? I just entered "Iron Ma" in there and the 3rd thing on the list is "Iron Man 2 Torrent".
Google: Yeah but notice if you enter "Jolly R" - there's no mention of Jolly Roger anymore.
RIAA: That's not exactly what we were looking for...
Google: -And if you enter "Blackbea" - no mention of blackbeard anymore...
RIAA: Okay okay. We get it.
Google: And this! "Rubber chicken with a"
*RIAA storms the room*
And yet the same people who proclaim "information wants to be free!!!" seem to get their panties in a twist when that same meme is applied to GPL code. Apparently it only wants to be free if it's copyrighted music/movies/books and proprietary software.
It won't even affect it - It's only autocomplete, not the search itself.
So you mean that I can't just type in "Arr" and have it fill in "Arrrr" for me, or "pieces o" and have it come up with "pieces of eight"?
Paint me fo'c'sle pink, that's blatant discrimination, it is!
I just tried "keelhauling", "scurvy", and "buggery" and all were auto-completed just fine.
sic transit gloria mundi
So any links containing the terms "arrrr", "matey", or "ye scurvy dogs" will now be blocked?
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.