Google Wipes Record Breaking Half Billion Pirate Links In 2016

Copyright holders have requested Google to take off almost 500,000,000 online links that they claim are infringing upon personal property rights. This number roughly equals the number of online links that were taken down in 2015.
Holders of online copyright material have long pointed at the compelling evidence of a failed copyright system. However, Google seems to disagree and this latest move by Google seems to reiterate its stance on tough action against piracy and copyright infringement.
Over the year, there has been a surge in DMCA takedown requests to Google by copyright holders and most of them have targeted pirate links that pop up on search results pages. According to data analyzed by TorrentFreak, the number of takedown requests that Google has received this year recently exceeded 500 million.
Currently, the takedown request counter shows 523 million views which is, in itself, a record. In comparison, it took almost the entire year to reach so many requests. This clearly highlights the surge in piracy over the year.
If this disturbing trend continues, there will eventually come a time when Google will have processed more than a billion takedown requests for allegedly infringing links this year which is a staggering number to say the least.
Google has assured holders of copyright material that it has maintained a record of removing roughly 98% of all URLs which translates into more than a billion links being removed this year alone. However, copyright holders have still insisted upon tougher action and claimed that this is still not enough.
Notable names of the entertainment industry such as MPAA, BPI and RIAA claim that while Google does follow a good track record of entertaining takedown requests, removed links simply pop up under new URLs.
Entertainment industry groups such as the RIAA, BPI and MPAA have pointed out repeatedly that many files simply reappear under new URLs.
This week, Google addressed the issue in its updated “How Google Fights Piracy” report that details the efforts that the company makes to combat piracy. It claims that an increase actually highlights the fact that the system works! Google also explained that it takes less than six hour to remove the content.
“The growing number of notices sent to Google by an increasing volume of different copyright owners and enforcement agents demonstrates the effectiveness and success of the notice-and-take-down system.
As the internet continues to grow rapidly, and as new technologies make it cheaper and faster for copyright owners and enforcement agents to detect infringements online, we can expect these numbers to continue to increase.”
Rightholders are not convinced, however, and are demanding tougher action by Google on piracy. BPI CEO Geoff Taylor has already dismissed the report published by Google:
“This report looks a lot like ‘greenwash’. Although we welcome the measures Google has taken so far, it is still one of the key enablers of piracy on the planet.”
It is clear that the tussle between Google and various entertainment industry groups is going to take some time to resolve. We could even see the government intervening to do something about it. Until then, however, holders of copyright material will continue to report millions of pirate links every day.