Google Blocks Pirate Search Results Prophylactically

Google is accepting "prophylactic" takedown requests to keep pirated content out of its search results, an anonymous reader writes, citing a TorrentFreak report. From the article: Over the past year, we've noticed on a few occasions that Google is processing takedown notices for non-indexed links. While we assumed that this was an 'error' on the sender's part, it appears to be a new policy. "Google has critically expanded notice and takedown in another important way: We accept notices for URLs that are not even in our index in the first place. That way, we can collect information even about pages and domains we have not yet crawled," Caleb Donaldson, copyright counsel at Google writes. In other words, Google blocks URLs before they appear in the search results, as some sort of piracy vaccine. "We process these URLs as we do the others. Once one of these not-in-index URLs is approved for takedown, we prophylactically block it from appearing in our Search results, and we take all the additional deterrent measures listed above." Some submitters are heavily relying on the new feature, Google found. In some cases, the majority of the submitted URLs in a notice are not indexed yet.

But but but

[NoNonAlphaCharsHere]

I thought prophylactils were extinct.

Re:

[Lunix Nutcase]

https://www.merriam-webster.co... [merriam-webster.com]

Re:

[Opportunist]

Too bad the only 15" you have to offer is your laptop's screen.

Don't Be Free

[Anonymous Coward]

Google is, at this point, privatized corporate law enforcement. In more ways than one.

You're either decentralizing ALL of your shit, or you are prey waiting to be milked for fun and profit.

From Planned Parenthood

[bobstreo]

How effective are condoms against pregnancy?

If you use condoms perfectly every single time you have sex, they’re 98% effective at preventing pregnancy. But people aren’t perfect, so in real life condoms are about 85% effective

I expect even worse numbers for google....

Re:

[rtb61]

Do you know what is the most effective birth control, alimony. Google wants to fix it's shit, than charge for uploads to access advertising review. Free uploads no ad revenue, want ad revenue, pay for the upload so many cents per minute. Stick up a movie, to gain ad revenue, pay and then get caught in the first thirty days before any revenue and lose your upload investment cost. It becomes a balance between paying for uploads and earning ad revenue, slows things down, makes it more manage able. It wont stop

Re:

[tepples]

I'm fairly certain that rtb61 was referring to YouTube, a video host operated by Google.

stop Google before it's too late

[Reverend Green]

Google sure does hate allowing poor people access to cultural data.

Google is a Search Engine Not The Police

[WindowsStar]

This is absolutely wrong!! Google is a Search Engine Not The Police of the Internet! That is like Google blocking searches for Gay's because it is illegal in some places. Or it is like blocking searches for Marijuana because it is Federally illegal. Google should NEVER block anything. If the someone has an issue with a search then they need to work on stopping the source not killing the messenger. My 2 cents!

Re:

[tinkerton]

How about Google just monitoring your searches for marijuana?

Re:

[WindowsStar]

Nice! Oh, noooo the Google Police are at my front door.

Re:

[tinkerton]

Google stores it but it can allow others to query it.

Unless they earn money for Google

[nagora]

I can't see YouTube or Google Books' industrial-scale copyright violations being stopped by this new policy, can you? And Scribd is the biggest piracy site on the Web as far as normal punters are concerned; will it get blocked? I doubt it.