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Google And Company Fight Anti-Piracy Treaty

A group of Web companies led by advertising powerhouse Google joined Web users in challenging the Bush administration's bid to clamp down on copyright violation. The group on Monday urged the U.S. Department of Commerce to exclude provisions on the sale of copyrighted music and movies on the Internet from a proposed treaty with the European Union, Japan and other nations. Google and the other companies said the U.S. government was still working on striking a balance between the free exchange of information on the Web and protecting copyrights, arguing that a treaty would be counterproductive.

The treaty in question is called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. It calls for the likes of Google to crack down on the unlicensed distribution of film clips and music videos, particularly in countries like China and Russia, where Internet piracy is rampant.

Google's lawyers pressed the Bush administration to drop any Internet issues from the talks. "Why would we want to enshrine one view of U.S. law" in a trade agreement, when that "may change over time," Johanna Shelton, policy counsel of Google, asked, citing pending U.S. court cases.

Read the whole story at Bloomberg News »

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