The BBC and Sky have asked the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority to use its new powers under the Digital Markets, Competition And Consumers Act to force Google to implement extra measures on its search engine to better combat piracy.
The DMCC Act was passed by Parliament last year, and aims to enhance competition in the UK digital market as well as providing new consumer protections. It granted the CMA various new powers as of the start of this year, which will almost certainly have an impact on Google.
“Search engines provide a quick and easy route for consumers to discover pirated content”, the broadcasters state, adding, “Google search returns organic and paid results that lead consumers directly and indirectly to infringing content and services”.
They then concede that “Google has taken some measures to address misuse of their search services”, but add that “copyright-infringing services remain easily accessible in both search and search advertising results”.
The broadcasters argue that forcing new ‘know your customer’ and transparency obligations onto Google, similar to obligations that already exist in the European Union as a result of its Digital Services Act, would help address those ongoing issues.
It does feel like the BBC and Sky are getting slightly ahead of themselves in making these requests of the CMA at this stage, but their submission sets out in clear terms how the broadcasters hope that the new DMCC Act will help in the ongoing battle against online piracy.
The copyright industries, including the music industry, have long argued that Google could and should do more to help copyright owners combat piracy sites and services, which many people initially access via a Google search. Although usually reluctant to take on too big a role in policing online piracy, Google has implemented various anti-piracy measures over the years, which many rights owners have embraced.
The call for new regulations forcing Google to do more to combat piracy comes as the CMA starts to implement the DMCC Act. Under that legislation, the regulator can designate certain big internet companies as having ‘strategic market status’ and then force ‘conduct requirements’ on those businesses.
The CMA opened an investigation into whether to designate Google’s search business as having strategic market status in January and has now published submissions that were made as part of that process. The BBC’s commercial division BBC Studios, along with both Sky and the Premiere League, used that as an opportunity to propose conduct requirements for Google relating to search and piracy.
They lead with a common complaint from rights owners. The current process for de-listing copyright infringing content from the Google search engine operates at a page rather than domain level. Which is to say Google will de-list a page that is shown to infringe copyright, but not an entire website that exists to promote piracy.
This, the BBC and Sky say, “means there is limited impact on demotion of illegitimate websites”. Even if a rights owner can “prove that the content is illegal”, they add, “the whole domain will not be delisted without obtaining a court order, which is expensive and time consuming”.
They also claim that Google’s measures to stop piracy sites using its search advertising services don’t go far enough. “Although Google has introduced checks designed to prevent pirate misuse”, they say, “there is as yet no demonstrable reduction in prominence of pirate advertising within Google search advertising”.
Therefore, the CMA should force Google to “implement robust and enforceable know your customer rules, including requirements for users of search ad services to supply identification and verification documents”.
That, they say, would stop at least some piracy services from using Google search advertising altogether, while for those that went through any new KYC process, Google would be able to identify the people or companies behind the piracy sites.
In addition to that, “Google should adopt and enforce a transparent repeat infringer policy, removing advertisers who consistently breach policies, significantly reducing the use of search advertising by pirate services”.