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General
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Written by Daniel
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Thursday, 27 September 2007 10:48 |
Pro-business watchdog targets Google for enabling video piracy
ARS Technica
By John Timmer | Published: September 26, 2007 - 11:57PM CT
Google's doing nothing about rampant copyright violations and may have become the storage medium of choice for movie pirates. That's the conclusion of an open letter (PDF) from the National Legal and Policy Center, a pro-business watchdog group. The letter was sent to Senator Patrick Leahy, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and urged him to "take strong and enforceable measures to protect the intellectual property of American businesses." It was accompanied by the release of a list of 300 pirated movies that have been available through Google video.
It's not clear what prompted the NLPC to turn its attention to video piracy. They were founded with the intention of watching for corruption and ethical lapses in government, and in recent years have focused their attention almost exclusively on unions and Democratic politicians. That could be interpreted as a pro-business approach, and their letter suggests that they view intellectual property as a logical extension of their general mission. It claims that the NLPC "has been a strong advocate for the protection of intellectual property rights as we believe that enforceable property rights are the cornerstone of any functioning market economy.".. More Comment in the Forum |
