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Google Downranks 65,000 Pirate Sites in Search Results

torrentfreak.com

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Re: Google Downranks 65,000 Pirate Sites in Search Results

#141

Post by bdhess »

copyrighteous wrote: post #119
otalp wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can Google be sure? They can't, so they can't do it

Sure they could. Copyright owners could list the content they own in some centralized system, and provide canonical URLs or domains for accessing that content. Google could then show that a particular search result is the canonical page for a given movie, without having to try to guess whether some other page has an illegal copy.

This sounds like it would practically work like "enhanced DMCA takedown for search results". Please no.

Basically, you're wishing away a number of huge problems, including (1.) that copyright attaches at the time of creation, while the owner of that copyright is often multiple steps removed from the act of creation and determined by complex legal arrangements; (2.) copyright ownership for a particular work may differ depending on political jurisdiction; (3.) copyright ownership is not the same as distribution rights, which also may vary based on political jurisdiction; (4.) it's not clear how fair use could be accommodated in such a system. It would also have the effect of favoring larger entities with more copyrighted works; i.e. Disney would have a better chance of navigating this system than an independent creator would.

Re: Google Downranks 65,000 Pirate Sites in Search Results

#142

Post by ilovetux »

saalweachter wrote: post #97
GW150914 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A real solution would be to employ competent humans rather than build and rely on incompetent algorithms.

Congratulations! You just invented the original Yahoo!. In all seriousness, curation is one of the most valuable skills a human can provide; I do sometimes wish it was easier to find curated content on the internet, but that isn't really what a search engine does. It is something that eg HN and Reddit provide.

I remember in the 90s a site with curated links was a common feature on "home pages". Remember home pages? They were cool geocities, Myspace and more. I wish they would make a comeback.

The closest we have to curated content is the relatively recent "awesome" lists.

Re: Google Downranks 65,000 Pirate Sites in Search Results

#144

Post by visarga »

iaml wrote: post #126
shiado wrote: post #124

I remember I used to do filetype searches for mp3, mp4, flac, etc... and get all sorts of good stuff. I would find ftp servers with thousands of songs and just download anything interesting. I feel like the Google search algorithm peaked many years ago and has gradually been neutered by all sorts of special interest groups who have no doubt harassed Google with legal threats. Google probably doesn't want to censor re…

It would be funny to see bing finally reach google search quality not because it got better, but because google got worse.

I use Bing whenever I want to find "pirate" sites.

Re: Google Downranks 65,000 Pirate Sites in Search Results

#145

Post by Splines »

abhiminator wrote: post #4

As much as I despise multi-billion dollar 'copyright holding' corporations, I feel this is a strategic move by Google to thrust more legitimate channels of media consumption (Netflix, Prime Video, Et al) to the top of the search results page. Having said that, people who actually use torrents regularly know their way around Google and other web-based search engines, and this move, therefore, should have little or no…

I think this helps people who legitimately want to get some piece of content and are confused/misled when they stumble upon a pirate/torrent site. They don't know what bittorrent is and are confused when they think they can download a movie and end up with a .torrent or a magnet link.

Re: Google Downranks 65,000 Pirate Sites in Search Results

#146

Post by becomingknown »

chongli wrote: post #131
abhiminator wrote: post #4

As much as I despise multi-billion dollar 'copyright holding' corporations, I feel this is a strategic move by Google to thrust more legitimate channels of media consumption (Netflix, Prime Video, Et al) to the top of the search results page. Having said that, people who actually use torrents regularly know their way around Google and other web-based search engines, and this move, therefore, should have little or no…

Forget pirate sites, Google is doing this for everything. I'm shocked at how often a search for some generic word or animal name brings up some company I've never heard of, with the Wikipedia page for that generic word buried at the bottom of the first page (sometimes pushed to the second page).

That is because Google is a marketing platform than a search site.

Re: Google Downranks 65,000 Pirate Sites in Search Results

#149

Post by visarga »

ItsMe000001 wrote: post #35
AngryData wrote: post #7

Google has been trash for pirate content for awhile now. 9/10 sites it does show are fake and straight up malicious with like 50 different things trying to hijack your browser and make you install shit. Not that real pirate sites are exactly safe, but at least they actually provide what people are looking for.

I run all such queries in a dedicated Linux VM so that I visit any "strange" websites only in that VM. I use a browser not connected to my (sync) account and don't login to any of my usual websites. uBlock Origin with all kinds of lists enabled is on, uMatrix is installed but it was too much of a hassle so it remains disabled. I hope my feeling of relative safety is justified, but I'm not a security expert(?). PS: Be…

Being disgusted by the viciousness of the anti-piracy movement mostly gave up US made movies and TV shows. I used to watch many shows and movies every year, now it's just one show and a couple of movies a year - in other words, almost nothing. And that makes me very proud and happy, they deserve it. Don't even go to cinema much.

Instead I watch Youtube: lectures, documentaries, courses and music. Reading Arxiv papers is stimulating and interesting. Streaming anime can replace US shows quite well. Don't need US entertainment after all.

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