Keeping up with torrent sites can be a game of whack-a-mole, as we learned with KickassTorrents and its subsequent mirror sites. Now it seems as though Hollywood is going after search and discovery via Google and Reddit.
In a letter to Google, Warner Bros. studios asked the search company to remove a page directing users to a subreddit named BestOfStreamingVideo. The DMCA notice claims the subreddit was infringing on Warner Bros. rights for the 2015 movie Interstellar because a link to a pirated copy appeared in a thread.
It’s not clear if the same notice was sent to Reddit, but Google refused to comply with the request.
As TorrentFreak points out, it may not be over; the DMCA takedown request was a bit broad, so narrowing its scope could see the page removed from search results later on.
The subreddit’s moderator, xosfear, says Warner Bros should focus its energy elsewhere:
The sub was made as a way for our users to share streaming video, and as Reddit is a platform for free speech it is out of our control as to what our users post.
In my opinion, if Warner Brothers spent all the time and money they spent on trying to control piracy on building a centralized platform for users to own their own movie library for a cost-effective price, they would make millions.
Look at what Steam has done for Valve and video game piracy. Of course, that would mean co-operating with other movie studios, and I doubt they would put aside their greed to do that.
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It’s a clever move by Warner Bros, but not unique. Lions Gate film went after the same subreddit in 2014 and failed. Getting a dedicated torrenting site shut down is tough enough, but when you take on search and Reddit — look out.
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