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Entertainment Industry Blasted Google’s Opposition to Web Filters

MPAA and RIAA called the Google’s move “baffling”, and accused it of advocating “corporate imperialism”. The industry also claimed that proposed American Internet filter couldn’t be compared to China’s “Great Firewall” at least because China’s filter was neither “bi-partisan” nor “narrowly tailored.” Once Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt announced that the company was going to oppose any attempts to introduce an American Internet censoring system, the entertainment industry criticized the search giant. Google argued that implementation of web filters would set a precedent for freedom of speech on the Internet. Therefore, even if the filtering regime was passed into law, the search engine giant would still fight it. In response, the MPAA expressed astonishment at the claim and wondered if the company’s CEO believed that Google is “above the law”. In the meantime, plans for Internet filtering in the country are still in the early stages. Earlier in May, lawmakers submitted the “PROTECT IP Act”, which suggested to provide the Department of Justice with the authority to force American-based 3rd parties to block access to infringing websites. Google commented on the proposal that this Internet filtering would set a precedent for freedom of speech on the Internet, similar to the “Great Firewall” of China. In addition, the legislation would also put the American government in the hypocritical position of demanding that other countries not filtered the web while the US itself does. For example, the US State Department criticized the Australian authorities for similar plans in their country just two months ago. A statement made by the country’s Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was probably even more damaging, as it encouraged the private sector to proactively challenge demands of the foreign countries to censor the web. She claimed that the private sector features a shared responsibility to help safeguard freedom of speech. Thus, when the business dealings of the private sector threaten to undermine the freedom of expression, those have to decide what is right, but not just what is profitable. The main question is whether this applies to Google as well, because its opinion was called “baffling”, while the search engine was accused of “not caring about creating a “civilized online ecosystem”.

http://extratorrent.com/article/1324...b+filters.html