Watchdog Group Uncovers 300 Apparently Pirated Films Viewed More Than 22 Million Times

The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) sent a report to members of Congress
detailing their research effort to examine the extent of apparent copyright
violations on Google Video.

Earlier this summer, the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) researched the extent of copyrighted material being hosted on Google Video and released a "Top 50" list of apparently copyrighted movies. In the latest "spot check" of the site conducted from September 10 to September 18, NLPC says it discovered 300 additional instances of apparently copyrighted
films, including more than 60 movies released this year.

Several popular summer releases including Shrek the Third, Oceans Thirteen, The Bourne Ultimatum, and Knocked Up were easily found on the video sharing site, the oranization says. Receiving more than 22 million views in the past year, the 300 apparently pirated films as
well as many other copyrighted works continue to make their way to Google Video despite Google's cited claim that it respects the rights of copyright holders and is continuing to take the lead in providing state-of-the-art tools for all copyright holders to identify and remove their intellectual property from the site, the watchdog group says.

"While Google faces numerous legal challenges related to the posting of copyrighted content on its video sharing websites, there is also a growing chorus who believe that evidence of Google's seemingly indifferent attitude towards Internet video piracy has resulted in a legitimization or
'mainstreaming' of video piracy which will have broad and damaging implications for all intellectual property owners," the letter, signed by NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm, accompanying the report reads. "We share those concerns."

"Since [we originally identified evidence of copyright infringement], the number of apparently copyrighted movies being hosted by Google Video appears to have grown substantially," the letter adds. "During the past two weeks, NLPC again conducted random spot checks of Google Video in an attempt to identify clearly copyrighted works that continue to be hosted on
the site. What we found raises serious questions about Google's oft-stated commitment to prevent apparently copyrighted content from being hosted on its video sharing site."

Boehm's letter also questions Google's repeated announcements that it intends to install video filtering technology on its video sharing services. "Google has been promising video filtering technology to screen for copyrighted content since at least the fall of 2006," says Boehm. "On
July 27 of this year, Google again announced that it would launch a filtering system by September of this year to prevent pirated material from being uploaded to its YouTube video sharing site. As of this Monday however, it appeared that Google still had not implemented the promised technology either for its YouTube or Google Video sites."

Estimates credit Internet piracy theft for nearly $2.3 billion in lost revenue to the U.S. film industry. "As you continue to debate intellectual property issues in the months ahead, we urge you to pay close attention to the 'mainstreaming' of video piracy by Internet leaders such as Google, and urge you to continue taking strong and enforceable measures to protect the
intellectual property of American businesses," the letter concludes.

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