Google accused of helping pirates

According to a report on the Wall Street Journal, Google is coming under fire from a group of major media companies after the search giant is believed to have helped websites responsible for offering illegal film downloads.

Brandon Drury and Luke Sample, who owned Easy Download Center and The Download Place, are currently being sued by a number of Hollywood studios.

The two revealed that they got significant support from Google's advertising branch while giving evidence under oath.

There's no doubting that the allegations are a major embarrassment for Google, which has already in the process of addressing the complaints put forward by the studios.

Google is already in constant negotiations with the film industry over the unauthorised use of copyrighted video on YouTube, so this is only going to make those negotiations even more intense.

The search giant didn't comment publicly on the situation, but did say that it is working to remove advertisements relating to copyright infringement, amongst other grey areas. "Discussions with Google have been ongoing for a while, and there's hope it can result in a mutually satisfactory arrangement whereby Google will not give support to pirate sites," said a spokesperson for Sony Pictures.

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