Google and Microsoft have reportedly agreed to a new code of conduct that is designed to prevent piracy of content online. The companies, as reported by The Telegraph, have signed up to a crackdown on internet piracy.
This is a result of months of negotiations between Intellectual Property Office (IPO), the tech companies and TV, film and music industries. The companies together, have made a commitment to stop search engines from driving traffic to illegal websites.
Under the code signed by the two companies, both Google and Microsoft’s Bing must relegate websites that have been served with copyright infringement notices. This way, the pages won’t appear on the first page for common searches.
All throughout, the IPO will be monitoring how Google and Bing act over a span of the next few months.
Matt Hancock, the minister for digital and culture, said: "We are one of the world's leading digital nations, and we have a responsibility to make sure that consumers have easy access to legal content online. Pirate sites deprive artists and rights holders of hard-earned income and I'm delighted to see industry led solutions like this landmark agreement which will be instrumental in driving change.”
