KeystoneRegional Posted August 16, 2012 Share #1 Posted August 16, 2012 By Joshua Kopstein on August 15, 2012 02:13 pm . When the citizens of the internet rallied against SOPA earlier this year, Google was among the prominent tech companies raising the banner of free speech against Congress' flawed anti-piracy bill. But in implementing changes to its search algorithm this week which lower the ranking of sites that receive too many copyright complaints, Google has imposed its own opaque system of copyright justice that's reminiscent of the despised, Hollywood-sponsored bill it once fought so adamantly against. The changes, detailed last week in a blog post, effectively dissolve what remains of Google's stance as a neutral search provider, having already announced in May that it would begin offering placement in Google Shopping based on the highest bidder rather than relevance or popularity. From now on, "valid copyright notices" from third parties will affect page rankings in Google’s search results, meaning that any site which receives enough complaints will have its placement on Google's search engine results pages (SERPs) automatically lowered. In a way, the new system seems to draw from one of the most dangerous aspects of SOPA: its attempt to combat piracy by allowing copyright owners to take direct action against alleged infringing sites. These "private rights of action" would have allowed rightsholders, for example a TV network or film studio, to have sites removed from search engine results, payment processors, and ad networks, leaving the accused infringers out in the cold before it was even determined whether or not the copyright claim was legitimate. Source Link and Read More: http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/15/3240549/google-pagerank-sopa-censorship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realizm Posted August 16, 2012 Share #2 Posted August 16, 2012 They already do this on youtube as it is with music that is copyrighted. Oh come on Google don't back down on this. Not everyone can afford copyrighted music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CenSin Posted August 17, 2012 Share #3 Posted August 17, 2012 We need something truely open and free. We already have it for several things: Encyclopedias: Wikipedia Computers: personal computer hardware Operating Systems: Linux, FreeBSD Office Software: LibreOffice Content Distribution: BitTorrent, or any number of P2P applications Search Engine: ? Each of the above are examples of resources that are important to the average person and can be used/made without kneeling to any single corporation. Wikipedia can be edited by nearly anyone and read by all. You can pick your components for your computer and customize it at will. Neither Linux nor FreeBSD are going to impose unwanted features (like DRM). Search is the next thing to be opened up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VWM Posted August 19, 2012 Share #4 Posted August 19, 2012 SOPA's dead, but it's not done with us... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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