Search Engines Demoting Pirated Content

Following a report  by the BBC, search engines are pledging to make it hard for UK internet users to find pirated films and music and illegally streamed sport.  Google and Microsoft’s Bing have signed up to a voluntary code of practice and will ensure offending websites are demoted in their search results. Lee Munson, Security Researcher at Comparitech.com commented below.

Lee Munson, Security Researcher at Comparitech.com:

“The new voluntary code of practice pledged by major search engines is bad news for anyone looking to download or consume content without paying for it but good news for everyone who wants to stay safe online.

“While not every pirate site hosts or links to misnamed files, Trojan-laden porn or malware-infected movie files, many do and, even though security software should be in place, we all know that a great many people do run into trouble on these sorts of sites.

“That’s not to say that this new initiative will make malicious files a thing of the past though – the determined will still find the websites they need, however far down the search engine results pages they may fall, and the sharing of such files between family and friends will no doubt carry on unabated.”