Ad Networks Agree to White House-Endorsed Best Practices for Infringing Sites
Major ad networks announced Monday a new set of best practices (http://bit.ly/145Pdsd) for websites that are “principally dedicated to selling counterfeit goods or engaging in copyright piracy,” in a move applauded by U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) Victoria Espinel. Signatories to the set of guidelines include 24/7 Media, Adtegrity, AOL, Condé Nast, Google, Microsoft, SpotXchange and Yahoo, which are participating “with the support of the Interactive Advertising Bureau” (IAB), Espinel said in a blog post announcing the best practices (http://1.usa.gov/14TDtal). “The Administration strongly supports voluntary efforts by the private sector to reduce infringement and we welcome the initiative brought forward by the companies to establish industry-wide standards to combat online piracy and counterfeiting by reducing financial incentives associated with infringement,” she said.
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Participating ad networks will “accept and process valid, reasonable, and sufficiently detailed notices from rights holders” about websites in each ad network that engage in online piracy or sell counterfeit goods, according to the guidelines. The networks will “perform an appropriate investigation into the complaint” and “may take steps” against infringing sites including removing the site from the network, terminating ads on a site or “requesting that the website no longer sell counterfeit goods or engage in copyright piracy,” the guidelines said.
Rightsholders, not ad networks, “are in the best position to identify and evaluate infringement of their intellectual property,” the guidelines preamble said. “Without specific, reliable notices from rights holders, Ad Networks lack the knowledge and capability to identify and address infringement.” Rightsholders are expected to “target only infringing conduct” and must provide ad networks with a description and evidence of the accused website’s infringing conduct and “a statement under the penalty of perjury that the person submitting the notice has a good faith belief” that the website’s use of the intellectual property is illegal. Once a complaint has been submitted, ad networks “may consider credible evidence provided by the accused website that it is not principally dedicated to selling counterfeit goods or engaging in copyright piracy or has substantial non-infringing uses,” the guidelines said. Rightsholders may be able to respond to the accused website’s defense of itself, the guidelines continued.
The International Anti-Piracy Congressional Caucus applauded the announcement. In a statement, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who co-chair the caucus, said rightsholders “need responsible partners in the fight against online piracy and counterfeiting,” and “both the public and private sectors have an important role to play.” The caucus “will continue to monitor the situation to determine if these voluntary best practices are actually helping to reduce the flow of revenue to those engaged in online theft,” the co-chairs continued.
"These best practices should help reduce the financial incentives for pirate sites by cutting off their revenue supply while maintaining a healthy Internet and promoting innovation,” said Google Vice President-Public Policy and Government Relations Susan Molinari in a blog post (http://bit.ly/15xb5JT). Google believes that one of the best ways to combat piracy and counterfeiting “is to cut off the money supply to rogue sites,” she continued. In 2012, the company suspended ads on 46,000 sites for copyright infringement and 82,000 for advertising counterfeit goods, she said. “Nearly 99% of our account suspensions were discovered through our own detection efforts and risk models."
But the set of best practices don’t go far enough, MPAA Chairman Chris Dodd said in a statement. “An incremental step forward that addresses only a narrow subset of the problem and places a disproportionate amount of the burden on rights holders is not sufficient,” he said. Dodd applauded IPEC for its “interest and leadership in helping to protect the intellectual property rights of innovators and creators” and urged the White House to “convene a meaningful and transparent multi-stakeholder process” to address the issues of “legitimate advertising on illegal Internet sites.” The guidelines are “hopefully a step towards” the goal of creating “a legitimate digital music marketplace where artists are fairly compensated for their work,” said Future of Music Coalition Interim Executive Director Casey Rae in a statement. “A functional and sustainable digital ecosystem is only achievable if everyone involved -- from technology companies to intermediaries to fans -- respect[s] artists and the incredible value they bring."
The content industry should “develop its own set of best practices to ensure that rights of internet users and intermediaries are protected in their efforts to enforce their copyrights,” Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn said in a statement. Sohn called the ad network guidelines “a sensible document that seeks to balance internet users’ free speech, privacy and fair use rights with content owners desire to protect their copyrights.” The guidelines also rightly put the onus on rightsholders to enforce their rights, which “is far preferable to having the ad networks engage in guesswork that can have unintended consequences for users,” she said.