October 2nd, 2009
DMCA takedown forces Google to remove links to Pirate Bay
Even though I’m linking to it right here, the Pirate Bay’s home page has a PageRank of zero.
Google still links to other sites on thepiratebay.org, but not the home page. It’s almost like putting a lock on the front door and forcing people to sneak into the website by breaking a window and climbing through.
A disclaimer on the bottom of a search results pages says this:
In response to a complaint we received under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed 8 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint that caused the removal(s) at ChillingEffects.org.
I think these DMCA takedown notices are counter intuitive because people will still find a way to get to the Pirate Bay’s homepage. Instead of using the Pirate Bay as an example, the people enforcing the DMCA should re-think this.
It’s a bigger problem, and it needs better handling. I’m not sure how or what has to be done, but this is just a waste of time I think.
Andrew Mager is a web developer at Ning, Inc. in Palo Alto. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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