Google Proclaims They’ve Done “More Than Almost Any Other Company” To Fight Online Piracy

It’s the war of the open letters. Last week, the CEO of News Corp took a shot at Google in a letter to the European Commissioner for Competition, claiming that “Google has been remarkably successful in its ability to monetize users, but has not shown the willingness, even though it clearly has the ability, to respect fundamental property rights.”


Google has responded with a letter of its own, in which SVP of Global Communications Rachel Whetstone defended Google’s record of fighting piracy. The letter highlights several claims made in News Corp’s letter and addresses each. If you’re looking for fighting words, you’re going to be disappointed, but Google makes some interesting statements. In response to News Corp’s suggestion that Google is a “platform for piracy and the spread of malicious networks,” for example, Google counters that it “has done more than almost any other company to help tackle online piracy,” and links to a 2013 presentation titled: “How Google Fights Piracy.”

And that’s not to say there isn’t a little snark – check out Whetstone’s response at the very end of her letter.