The Obama Administration came out in support of an anti-piracy plan put forward by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and other Internet companies that’s designed to cut off advertising revenue to rogue sites engaged in piracy and counterfeiting.
The White House last month issued a call to Internet companies to develop voluntary agreements with Hollywood and other industries to stem the tide of online piracy.
“The Administration strongly supports voluntary efforts by the private sector to reduce infringement and we welcome the initiative brought forward by the companies to establish industry-wide standards to combat online piracy and counterfeiting by reducing financial incentives associated with infringement,” Victoria Espinel, the U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator in the Office of Management and Budget, said in a statement Monday.
She added, “We believe that this is a positive step and that such efforts can have a significant impact on reducing online piracy and counterfeiting.”
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But some rights owners argued the Internet companies’ plan doesn’t go far enough. MPAA chairman Chris Dodd said it “places a disproportionate amount of the burden on rights holders” and is “not sufficient.”
Under the “best practices” guidelines, online ad networks will respond to complaints from copyright holders about specific sites. After investigating a notice, an ad network may request that a website no longer sell counterfeit goods or engage in copyright infringement or it can refuse to place ads on the site.
Companies adopting the voluntary set of best practices are 24/7 Media, Adtegrity, AOL, Condé Nast, Google, Microsoft, SpotXchange and Yahoo, with the support of the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
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Google in particular has been targeted by allegations that it profits from rogue sites that advertise illegal drugs and engage in piracy. The Internet giant says it already has stringent advertising policies and works to remove those from its advertising network.
