Google Takes Action in a File-Sharing Scandal: Reasons & Causes

With SOPA haste seeming to be now over, the file-sharing scandal, involving MegaUpload, has taken an interesting twist with Google saying its defending word in court. In fact, the IT giant has also officially claimed its position in the case with accusations of HotFile, recently made by MPAA (the abbreviation corresponds to The Motion Picture Association of America).

In particular, Google representatives claim, that any complaints towards HotFile, and even MegaUpload accordingly, are rather groundless, as both services are recognized to follow DMCA (The Digital Millennium Copyright Act), which makes their work legal, except for the links to files at MegaUpload, protected by copyright, which should, undoubtedly, be removed immediately.

What makes such a position of Google so peculiar is that the company has nothing to do with either HotFile or MegaUpload, regarding the shareholding aspect, for instance; yet, it has decided to stand out and say its word in, perhaps, the most media covered scandal recently. Nonetheless, if to take a closer look at the whole situation, Google’s actions turn out to be absolutely justified.

The most essential reason, in this respect, is the fact that the company’s own services, like YouTube, also happen to follow the mentioned DMCA, and they are generally considered 100% legal. At the same time, if HotFile is being accused of violating the law, what can prevent such companies, as MPAA, from accusing Google itself in future? That is the question.

Here, what can Google’s actions in the case with MegaUpload and Hotfile cases change? There’re, actually, several ways, in which the situation can develop. On the one hand, since Google is commonly known as one of the most influential IT companies ever, its official opinion is, obviously, highly valued. Moreover, the enterprise has a point when emphasizing the necessity of following the general laws, and DMCA is what the most reputable file hosting services, like 4shared.com, are pursuant to.

On the other hand, if the above-mentioned cases finish with guilty verdicts, can it lead to implementation of changes in DMCA itself? Hopefully, not.

But, we’ll see.


Stay cool)
Andy