FutureFive New Zealand - Consumer technology news & reviews from the future
Story image
Warner Bros: Call off the Mega Google search
Thu, 30th May 2013
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Music giants Warner Bros and NBC Universal have asked Google to remove Mega from search results, claiming Kim Dotcom's website holds copyrighted content.

Requesting the search engine de-lists Mega, with NBC claiming copyright infringement with regards to the film Mama.

Warner Bros kick-started the move however, requesting similar action over the recently released film Gangster Squad.

But Mega founder Dotcom hit back at the requests, saying: “The Warner Bros. and NBC Universal requests to Google are censoring our entire homepage.

“This is in line with the unreasonable content industry behavior we have experienced for years.

"The constant abuse of takedown rules and the ignorance of DMCA obligations by the content industry are based on the confidence that the current U.S. administration is protecting this kind of behavior.

“The political contract prosecution of Megaupload is the best example.”

The internet mogul, currently fighting extradition charges to the U.S. over alleged copyright claims, released a 'White Paper' earlier this month, citing the case against him as "clearly meritless."

“The case against Megaupload and its executives is extraordinary, but not because – in the words of the U.S. Department of Justice – it is “the biggest copyright case in history,” Dotcom said at the time.

And Dotcom's stance against the music industry was strongly backed by CEO Vikram Kumar, who warned the website would not tolerate such acts against it.

"There is some who believe that the action by Warner Bros and NBC Universal is not a genuine mistake but deliberate, malicious action against Mega," he said.

"I'd like to give them and their agents the benefit of doubt but Mega is unlikely to remain silent if this sort of behaviour is repeated."

Check out Vikram Kumar speaking exclusively to TechDay in March, after joining the Dotcom ranks.

Do Dotcom and Kumar have a point? Or are Warner Bros and NBC in the right? Tell us your thoughts below