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Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) member Paramount Pictures has filed a letter with the US Federal Communications Commission which claims search engines including Google and Bing are complicit in the spread and availability of pirate websites to their users.
The letter, which was received by the FCC as it prepares its national broadband strategy in the US and was endorsed by the MPAA, claims the search engines do little to dissuade piracy by providing links – sometimes sponsored – to popular P2P and other upload sites via keyword searches.
The MPAA letter also claimed piracy would threaten the FCC’s planned rollout of 100Mb/s internet services in the US.
The letter highlighted the case of the 2009 feature release Star Trek, which the MPAA claimed was illegally copied and downloaded online by 5 million IP addresses.
"The flood of stolen content currently available online – including every major theatrical film within hours of release – poses an immediate threat to the motion picture industry, which in 2007 supported 2.5 million jobs, $41.1 billion in wages, and had a trade surplus of $13.6 billion," the letter stated.
"Just five years ago, one had to be computer literate and exceedingly patient to pirate movies. Today, literally anyone with an Internet connection can do it. Clunky websites are being replaced by legitimate looking and legitimate feeling pirate movie websites, a perception enhanced by the presence of premium advertisers and subscription fees processed by major financial institutions. It is clear that piracy has advanced from geek to sleek."
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