AfterDawn: News

Google begins censoring all torrent-related searches

Earlier this week, Google began censoring any search queries with references to torrents from its 'instant search' and 'autocomplete' features.

Last month, the search giant promised it would begin "making copyright work better online" whilst blocking "terms that are closely associated with piracy" from autocomplete.



BitTorrent services have been up in arms since the move, pointing out that there are many legal torrents out there that are being censored, like films that have been released for free by directors and made available via torrent sites.

A couple of the banned search terms are "utorrent," "bittorrent," "rapidshare," and "megaupload." However, other cyberlockers like Fileserve and HotFile are not banned. Suprisingly, "The Pirate Bay," is still a searchable term.

Rapidshare expressed the concerns of companies now censored:

We knew about Google's plans for quite a few weeks now. We embrace that certain search suggestions will not put a wrong complexion on RapidShare anymore, but we are concerned that at the same time the legitimate interests of our users will also be affected.

Of course, regular search results will not be censored, just autocomplete and instant results.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 30 Jan 2011 14:20

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• 33 comments

• jeff_2

  Thats a fancy way of saying Google gave in. I for one will be changing search engine lol
  

  If you open up your mind to much, your brain may fall out

  30.1.2011 14:29 #1

• lissenup2

  Just searched for "Utorrent"..............came back without issue, though it doesn't come up in "autocomplete" but who cares.
  
  And ummm........as for Google even contemplating this move???...............F YOU!
  

  30.1.2011 14:46 #2

• Spaz02538

  this is just a way of google saying this looks like we are doing something about piracy and it looks good but at the same time it's not really doing anything. It's all political and for looks doesn't actually change much.
  

  Spaz Creations

  30.1.2011 15:26 #3

• hikaricor

  Title is misleading and this is old news.

  30.1.2011 15:29 #4

• GryphB

  meh. I did a search earlier and had no problems.

  30.1.2011 15:49 #5

• lissenup2

  Originally posted by GryphB: meh. I did a search earlier and had no problems. Again...........it still searches but the "autofill" does not display Utorrent, rapidshare, etc

  30.1.2011 15:56 #6

• lissenup2

  Originally posted by hikaricor: Title is misleading and this is old news. I have not been aware of this nor did I "hear" of this so called "old news" so either back your statement up with dates and ocurrences or pipe down.

  30.1.2011 15:57 #7

• Tristan_2

  ...I thought this is fake info but its real??? Frak you Google!
  

  30.1.2011 15:58 #8

• KSib

  Originally posted by lissenup2: Originally posted by hikaricor: Title is misleading and this is old news. I have not been aware of this nor did I "hear" of this so called "old news" so either back your statement up with dates and ocurrences or pipe down. Check neowin and the title is misleading as he says. You can do your own homework.

  30.1.2011 16:21 #9

• DXR88

  the title is fine. as censorship is the act of suppressing, not elimination. Google is Suppressing the ability to make easy searching possible.
  
  Google should suppress itself, as it is the number one torrent finder.
  

  Powered By
  
  

  30.1.2011 18:10 #10

• Pop_Smith

  Originally posted by jeff_2: Thats a fancy way of saying Google gave in. I for one will be changing search engine lol They only are filtering bit torrent-related phrases via autocomplete hitting "Enter" after typing in Bittorrent will show you unfiltered results.
  

  http://www.megavideo.com/?v=V1VZAD0O <-- Brian Regan "Take Luck" video.
  
  "The only people who should buy Monster cable are people who light cigars with Benjamins." - Gizmodo

  30.1.2011 18:57 #11

• Aarbyy

  I hate Google. I hate corporations, and I don't give a crap how unsophisticated that sounds.
  

  ** 13 trillion $ (in personal wealth, and counting) sit in offshore tax havens, used by all sorts of folks, including terrorists, while our political leaders whine that they cant afford social spending!!! That sum is globally sourced. **

  30.1.2011 19:57 #12

• Rebel11

  Originally posted by Aarbyy: I hate Google. I hate corporations, and I don't give a crap how unsophisticated that sounds. lol. Someone's a communist.

  30.1.2011 20:48 #13

• Aarbyy

  Originally posted by Rebel11: Originally posted by Aarbyy: I hate Google. I hate corporations, and I don't give a crap how unsophisticated that sounds. lol. Someone's a communist. Is that okay? I know we have a democracy here in NA, but can I be a communist if I choose to be?
  

  ** 13 trillion $ (in personal wealth, and counting) sit in offshore tax havens, used by all sorts of folks, including terrorists, while our political leaders whine that they cant afford social spending!!! That sum is globally sourced. **

  31.1.2011 01:37 #14

• xboxdvl2

  NOw would be a good time for one of googles rivals to start a search engine aimed at finding torrent files.
  

  married to my car and computer.both of them have problems.

  31.1.2011 03:13 #15

• Rebel11

  Originally posted by Aarbyy:
  Is that okay? I know we have a democracy here in NA, but can I be a communist if I choose to be? It's perfectly fine. I don't care if you are a communist or not. Your views are your own. I don't believe in communism (obviously) but I didn't mean my comment to cause insult. Just pointing out the obvious. :3
  
  Originally posted by xboxdvl2: NOw would be a good time for one of googles rivals to start a search engine aimed at finding torrent files. lol. It'd never happen. Google's only 2 big competitors are Yahoo and Microsoft. We both know theres no way in hell they'll start up a search engine for torrents.
  

  31.1.2011 03:17 #16

• Blessedon

  How coincidental and Orwellian, that Afterdawn features on the same day:
  Google is restricting torrent searches...
  and China is blocking "Egypt" searches.
  
  One is done for appeasement.
  One is done for malice.
  

  31.1.2011 09:37 #17

• ngs24

  It's at least a step in the right direction. All torrent sites should be blocked from the search features. You don't see the addresses and phone numbers of street vendors who sell stolen merchandise in the yellow pages do you?

  31.1.2011 10:37 #18

• xboxdvl2

  Originally posted by ngs24: It's at least a step in the right direction. All torrent sites should be blocked from the search features. You don't see the addresses and phone numbers of street vendors who sell stolen merchandise in the yellow pages do you? pretty sure silver sun second hand shop is in yellow pages.I know for a fact cash converters is.both them shops are not exactly street vendors but then again torrent sites are organised businesses.pretty sure if you know someones name that is a theif you can search whitepages or possible even track them down through google or facebook.does ebay require proof of ownership of a product which your selling???
  
  stealing by definition is taking physical properly without permission.as torrent files arn't actually physical properly its techically not stealing.as the data has been copied/cloned but not physically removed its not stealing.anyway post in safety valve if you would like a debate about whats stealing and what isn't
  

  married to my car and computer.both of them have problems.

  31.1.2011 11:32 #19

• internetdude

  old news just does not auto complete, oh the agony i will have to click the search button. Works fine here.

  31.1.2011 20:00 #20

• Rebel11

  Originally posted by ngs24: It's at least a step in the right direction. All torrent sites should be blocked from the search features. You don't see the addresses and phone numbers of street vendors who sell stolen merchandise in the yellow pages do you? Ugh. Just, ugh.
  This is a step in the wrong direction. Nothing good will come of placing restrictions on the internet. I'm not defending torrents or anything like that. But I'm saying they are going about this the wrong way.
  
  These torrent sites do not hold any of the illegal information. So they are not commenting any illegal act. Yet, the people who do decide do download these torrents, are. (disclaimer: not all torrents contain stolen/illegal content)
  So we should be punishing these sites, it's like punishing MSN because their users are sending songs to one another.It's utterly absurd.
  
  I subscribe to the school of thought that states that the criminal should be caught in the act (or after the fact) with said data (song, program, movie, etc).
  
  Originally posted by xboxdvl2:
  stealing by definition is taking physical properly without permission.as torrent files arn't actually physical properly its techically not stealing.as the data has been copied/cloned but not physically removed its not stealing. The illegal act being commented isn't Stealing. It's copyright infringement. Which, as you know, is an entirely different ballgame.
  And just as a side note: Stealing = Larceny: "wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person". Physical presence has nothing to do with it.
  
  

  31.1.2011 23:59 #21

• Alex_lux

  Certainly such steps aren't clear from the biggest searcher. But nevertheless to be upset I think it is not necessary to eat already weight of searchers of torrent, for example link. Come and search that you want.

  1.2.2011 17:36 #22

• mike.m

  I like searching torrents in Google, for example "name" torrent, or "name" piratebay, since piratebay's search doesn't work, but their torrents are still active. Not a huge problem, I'll just switch to another search engine. It's already known that Google collects data on what you search, so bye bye Google. I'll probably only use google now for Android and maps.

  1.2.2011 20:56 #23

• internetdude

  Originally posted by mike.m: I like searching torrents in Google, for example "name" torrent, or "name" piratebay, since piratebay's search doesn't work, but their torrents are still active. Not a huge problem, I'll just switch to another search engine. It's already known that Google collects data on what you search, so bye bye Google. I'll probably only use Google now for Android and maps. Piratebay works fine for me, and as long as your not logged in to Google let them collect whatever they want. Anyway assume anything you do online is collected by some agency or another.
  

  1.2.2011 23:12 #24

• bluedogs

  Majority of people have the torrent sites book marked, so no damage

  3.2.2011 05:46 #25

• ralphdown

  Originally posted by ngs24: It's at least a step in the right direction. All torrent sites should be blocked from the search features. You don't see the addresses and phone numbers of street vendors who sell stolen merchandise in the yellow pages do you? You also don't find the address or phone number for Google!

  3.2.2011 17:38 #26

• internetdude

  Originally posted by ngs24: It's at least a step in the right direction. All torrent sites should be blocked from the search features. You don't see the addresses and phone numbers of street vendors who sell stolen merchandise in the yellow pages do you? Torrent sites do not have any kind of infringing files on them, and sharing a movie is not stealing. There is no theft of materials or copyright infringement going on when you torrent a file. Its not like one downloads a movie and sells it.
  When a person takes something that belongs to somebody else without permission, that is stealing. When someone torrents a movie that someone else has put up to share, this is not stealing. Its just a digital file.
  

  3.2.2011 17:48 #27

• SPALL31

  Originally posted by jeff_2: Thats a fancy way of saying Google gave in. I for one will be changing search engine lol +1

  3.2.2011 18:42 #28

• senator29

  absolutely no need to care about this folks.
  
  you can still search freely just minus googles little perks.
  
  porn searchs have never been in autocomplete as far as i can tell. even searching names, if the name is associated with porn it doesnt auto complete.
  
  google made a good move. you will still get your search results. rapidshare and the like have concerns which are justified. this could lead to potential search filtering in the future. however, i would think that violates civil rights to some degree.
  

  3.2.2011 18:54 #29

• scorpNZ

  Originally posted by internetdude: Originally posted by ngs24: It's at least a step in the right direction. All torrent sites should be blocked from the search features. You don't see the addresses and phone numbers of street vendors who sell stolen merchandise in the yellow pages do you? Torrent sites do not have any kind of infringing files on them, and sharing a movie is not stealing. There is no theft of materials or copyright infringement going on when you torrent a file. Its not like one downloads a movie and sells it.
  When a person takes something that belongs to somebody else without permission, that is stealing. When someone torrents a movie that someone else has put up to share, this is not stealing. Its just a digital file. Whatever helps you sleep better at night..lol..
  

  3.2.2011 20:08 #30

• SPALL31

  Originally posted by scorpNZ: Originally posted by internetdude: Originally posted by ngs24: It's at least a step in the right direction. All torrent sites should be blocked from the search features. You don't see the addresses and phone numbers of street vendors who sell stolen merchandise in the yellow pages do you? Torrent sites do not have any kind of infringing files on them, and sharing a movie is not stealing. There is no theft of materials or copyright infringement going on when you torrent a file. Its not like one downloads a movie and sells it.
  When a person takes something that belongs to somebody else without permission, that is stealing. When someone torrents a movie that someone else has put up to share, this is not stealing. Its just a digital file. Whatever helps you sleep better at night..lol.. I completely Agree.
  Torrenting is not stealing at all, it's sharing, not necesarily when someone is sharing through torrent means that he downloaded a DVD Screener or so, it could be his own file that he would like others to share.
  

  Why the world has a head like a rock?!

  4.2.2011 09:47 #31

• scorpNZ

  As Dr Evil would say "yeah right"
  

  4.2.2011 14:09 #32

• euheide (unverified)

  "Of course, regular search results will not be censored, just autocomplete and instant results."
  
  It always starts with small things. But they've opened a precedent. They've opened the way for new measures.

  23.6.2011 03:18 #33