In recent months, the proverbial has really hit the fan for file sharing sites. But now, the music industry may be turning its sights to Google instead, focusing on the results they return to people searching for music.
According to reports from Torrent Freak, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) doesn’t feel Google does enough to censor pirated content. A document written by the IFPI, seen by Torrent Freak, states:
“Google continues to fail to prioritise legal music sites over illegal sites in search results, claiming that its algorithm for search results is based on the relevance of sites to consumers. With a view to addressing this failure, IFPI obtained a highly confidential and preliminary legal opinion in July 2011 on the possibility of bringing a competition law complaint against Google for abuse of its dominant position, given the distortion of the market for legitimate online music that is likely to result from Google’s prioritising of illegal sites.”
In others words: the IFPI accuses Google of antitrust practices by failing to censor its search results. That’s a pretty bold position to take, and something we’ve not seen happening before — and, I suspect, is being held open as a last reosrt by the music industry. [Torrent Freak]