Google may give pirate sites low raking, priority to ‘licensed’ ones
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London, Dec 19 (ANI): Google would automatically rank pirate websites lower than official ones under a new treaty between rights holders and search engines. Under the voluntary code of practice, which has no legal teeth at this stage, websites might have to apply for certification as “licensed sites” to appear high up the Google rankings, the Telegraph reports.
The site would give priority to those that were certified under a “recognised scheme”. Under the code, Google and other search engines, such as Yahoo and Bing, would stop allowing illegal sites to advertise and would step up their efforts in delisting pirate websites as soon as they are flagged by legitimate rights holders.
According to the paper, if search engines do not sign up the code and adhere to it, or negotiate something similar, the UK government is expected to resort to new legislation instead. The search engines have yet to respond to the proposal, the report said. In the past they have opposed taking pre-emptive action against pirate sites. The proliferation of illegal sites means that the threat to rights holders is worsening. (ANI)