File this under "Guess who actually runs the show around here?": according to Google's latest transparency report, the Recording Industry Association of America (or the RIAA, as they're best known… insert ominous thunderbolt here) has asked the search engine giant to remove 9,986,936 individual URLs housing easy to find, easy to download illegally uploaded/shared music from its search results.
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In recent years, as you (might) know, Google and online storage sites like MediaFire and MegaUpload have been the avenue of choice for music fans looking to fill up their iTunes libraries… or, um, so I'm told. With file sharing and torrent sites and services quickly going the way of the dinosaur, it only makes sense that the mighty RIAA would come after Google and the download links it points users towards.
With streaming services like Pandora and Spotify on the up-and-up, the larger discussion is quickly turning from music industry vs. tech services (or vs. downloaders themselves, in the most extreme and widely-reported cases) to musicians vs. music industry, but in the meantime, the RIAA will continue to do everything in its sweeping power to maintain profit margins. Whether or not they'll be able (and to what extent) to bully Google around remains to be seen.
Any thoughts re: the Godzilla vs. Mothra scale battle between the RIAA and Google? Hit up the comments below.
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[SPIN.com]
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