Digiturk, a satellite TV provider in Turkey, made a copyright complaint after discovering feeds of its broadcasts of football matches on Google's blogspot service. A court in Turkey dealt with the problem by simply blocking the service altogether, which is permitted by the country's copyright laws.
The move is likely to anger the estimated 600,000 users of blogspot in the country who will now either have to wait for another resolution, or use a technical measure to get around the block.
Google acknowledged the blocking of its popular blogging service in Turkey, saying those with concerns about piracy should use its simple takedown systems rather than banning the service outright. "The process for making a copyright claim for content uploaded to Blogger is straightforward and efficient, and we encourage all content owners to use it rather than seek a broad ban on access to the service," said a Google spokesperson.
"That way, people in Turkey can continue to enjoy Blogger whilst we respond to the specific complaint."
The issue of streaming football matches and other sports events through websites or through feed sharing applications is becoming a hot topic in the west too.
Written by: James Delahunty @ 4 Mar 2011 16:34
