24 Nov 2004
Porn Site Sues Google Over Linked Images

Apparently these porn purveyors don't understand how the Internet works. Google links only those pages which it can get to, and it's bots respect robots.txt files pretty scrupulously. Go Google isn't going behind their password protection to link the images, they've placed the images where they can be reached sans passwords!

Furthermore, they don't understand the role of the search engine: this is like a shopkeeping suing his sign for directing people into his store! They also expect Google to do their copyright enforcement: if there's an illegal mirror of their site, they are responsible for finding it and taking it down (and they've got plenty of powerful tools to do it with, too).

And suing because Google finds sites that talk about password "hacking"? Whew, that's a reach, even for a copyright lawyer.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Google is being sued for copyright infringement by a Los Angeles-based porn site. The complaint revolves around Google's Image Search, which allegedly displays copyrighted pictures and links to unauthorised mirrors. The complaint also alleges that Google Search is providing 'links to password hacking sites that provide ways to gain illegal access to [the complainant's] website.'

(link) [Slashdot]

Update: Overlawyered has more on this, including the litigation track record of Perfect 10. It's a long post...

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