YouTube schools copyright offenders

“To help demonstrate whether its new program is effective, we would hope that Google shares the data regarding its impact on repeat infringers as well as details on the speed in which it takes down illegal content found on its sites,” said Motion Picture Association of America president and former Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd.

“We also hope that Google will now take long-overdue steps to address its role as a search engine in providing priority listings and rankings for rogue sites offering stolen movies and television shows.” 

Google has attracted heat in recent months from lawmakers and industry
groups that argue the search giant can do more to discourage copyright infringement such as censoring rogue websites from its search results. Google has responded by noting the danger of legitimate websites being omitted.

Dodd noted Google has previously altered its search algorithm to punish unscrupulous merchants and suggested a similar move “can and should be used to address online content theft as well.”