Peter Bradwell is shaking the tree…

Open Rights Group | Revealed: Proposed new powers over search results.

We wrote last year, many times, about the discussions being hosted by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport between rights holders and various ‘intermediaries’ – which to normal people means companies like Internet Service Providers and search engines. One of the most recent roundtables saw the group of rights holders present search engines with a paper on how they should help tackle copyright infringement.

After two Freedom of Information requests, we have received the proposals, which you can download here.

As well as containing some dangerous ideas, the proposals help emphasise that copyright enforcement policy is suffering from a severe democratic deficit. This whole process needs rebalancing so that it is based on a sound analysis and evidence, and operates through a transparent and open process. Otherwise, just like as is happening with ACTA, DCMS are simply repeating mistakes we’ve seen so recently over SOPA and PIPA in the US.*

Here’s the summary of what the rights holders were asking for:

• Assign lower rankings to sites that repeatedly make available unlicensed content in breach of copyright
• Prioritise websites that obtain certification as a licensed site under a recognised scheme
• Stop indexing websites that are subject to court orders while establishing suitable procedures to de-index substantially infringing sites
• Continue to improve the operation of the ‘notice and takedown’ system and ensure that search engines do not encourage consumers towards illegal sites via suggested searches; related searches and suggested sites
• Ensure that they do not support illegal sites by advertising them or placing advertising on them, or profit from infringement by selling key words associated with piracy or selling mobile applications which facilitate infringement.

There are some particularly worrying elements…

Continues…