Google Receives Thousands of Takedown Notices from Sky TV
- Google is being directed by Sky TV to take down thousands of URLs that are connected to pirate IPTV websites.
- Some of the targeted sites include EpicIPTV, Enjoy-IPTV, TalentIPTV, and BestIPTV.
- The DMCA notices were filed soon after Sky TV cracked down on multiple IPTV box sellers around the globe.
Sky TV has been cracking down on unlicensed IPTV operators for months, and the broadcaster has now set its sights on Google. The search engine giant is receiving thousands of takedown notices from Sky to take down search results that link to pirated content. In some cases, a single takedown notice can have as many as 500 URLs.
Some of the IPTV services targeted by Sky include EpicIPTV, Enjoy-IPTV, TalentIPTV, and BestIPTV among many others. Dozens of websites are being targeted by the broadcaster, but the notices sent to Google are not necessarily enforceable. The DMCA takedown notices are meant to contain URLs to infringing content, but most of the URLs listed by Sky do not contain anything that infringes upon copyrights. Some of the URLs listed include information databases, sales portals, and even FAQ pages. Regardless of the eligibility of the notices, Google has taken down a large number of the URLs.
Even though Google is known to reject a number of takedown notices without offering any explanations, the search giant has been more accommodating to complaints in the recent past. As seen with the recent update to Section 115a of Australia’s Copyright Act, Google is accepting takedown requests after facing government and media pressure.
While many argue that site blocking is not effective long-term as users who want to access pirated content find alternate sources eventually, authorities have shown that site blocking does lead to a decrease in piracy. Sky’s efforts against pirate websites may be effective, but it also leads problems for website owners who are having their pages being removed from Google’s search results even if the pages don’t host pirated content.
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