Media Firms Say Google Benefited From Film Piracy

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MEDIA FIRMS SAY GOOGLE BENEFITED FROM FILM PIRACY
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Matthew Karnitschnig matthew.karnitschnig@wsj.com and Julia Angwin ]
A group of major media companies has accused Internet giant Google Inc. of benefiting from the sale of pirated movies and providing business support to two Web sites suspected of offering access to illegal film downloads, according to several people familiar with the matter. The allegations are an embarrassment for Google, which assured the companies on Friday it would take measures to prevent a recurrence of the episode. At the core of the media companies' dispute with Google is their claim that Google deliberately directed traffic to Web sites that were engaged in fostering piracy. Although people familiar with the situation say the incident doesn't involve large sums of money, several media executives say it has led them to question Google's internal controls. Google told the studios on Friday it would implement new procedures to prevent recurrences.
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