Google: Online piracy public enemy No.1?

Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) acknowledged that Google has “taken positive steps” to hinder infringing sites, but said there’s still more the search engine could do.

“The question isn’t what Google has done as it is what Google ought to do,” Goodlatte said.

The Virginia lawmaker said that when his office conducted a search on Google for “watch movies online,” the first suggested term that popped up in the search box was “watch free bootleg movies online.” He was directed to free music files when he searched for music by country star Taylor Swift.

Goodlatte asked Google’s General Counsel Kent Walker to explain why the search engine made it so easy to access illegitimate content.

Walker said the search terms that instantly appear in the search giant’s autocomplete feature are generated based on search terms that the majority of Web surfers enter. In this case, Walker said the search term that appeared in Goodlatte’s search box is “a reflection of how many users are trying to seek pirated bootleg movies” on Google.

Several lawmakers — including ranking member Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Howard Coble (R-N.C.), Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.)—repeatedly asked Walker the same question.

Conyers noted that Google prevents searches for websites that host child pornography and questioned why the company couldn’t enforce the same policy for sites that infringe on copyrights.

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