Google Roped into RIAA and KaZaA battle

[xcandyman]

[pcpro.co.uk...]

The all-powerful search engine has now been roped into the ongoing dispute between RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and the makers of the KaZaA peer-to-peer software.

Slashdot has spotted that Google has cut down on its search listings for KaZaA Lite, under the terms of the DMCA Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

If you perform the KaZaA Lite search, 376,000 results are obtained but a number of URLs are missing.

Search for: Kazaa Lite on google and look at the bottom!

[Marc_P]

This is amazing. I guess the law is the law after all, they don't have a choice. One would assume that anything "warez" will soon follow...

[digitalghost]

I think the title is a bit misleading and so is the story. It looks like Sharman is asking that sites that are infringing on the software and the Kazaa name be removed from the index, the RIAA has nothing to do with it.

Kazaa Owner Complains of Copyright Infringement, Sharman Networks, August 11, 2003

No connection to the RIAA that I can see.

[mayor]

I certainly don't support Kazaa but this is scary. A search engine is an indexing tool and nothing else.

It's like telling someone that makes hammers they have to cover the head with rubber because someone used one to hurt someone.

This could be the tip of the iceberg if Google bows under.

Hopefully Google's lawyers are working on this one.

[digitalghost]

>>A search engine is an indexing tool

Exactly, which is why is it important to note that Sharman Networks filed the complaint against those sites infringing on the Kazaa name and software and that this doesn't seem to have anything to do with the RIAA.

If this were in response to an RIAA request it would be scary. HTML editors and word processors could be on the "remove" list as well. ;)

[SlyOldDog]

duh - don't shoot the messenger.

Google is just telling us the sites are there. Kazaa needs to go after the people infringing their copyright not the one who blew the whistle on them.