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‘Goliath’ Is Not Amused: Google Hits Out At MPAA, Files Lawsuit

By Toni Matthews
Published on: 05:21 PST, Dec 19, 2014

Google is not happy about “Project Goliath.”

If you missed it, “Goliath” came out during the ongoing Sony hacker crisis.

Thanks to leaked emails, we all learned that the Motion Picture Association of America has taken certain, less than ethical, steps towards combating Google, a perceived threat of their pro-SOPA endeavors.

According to The Verge, the MPAA and six studios (Universal, Sony, Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros., and Disney) were united in this effort. Comcast, which owns Universal, was also heavily involved.

The studios each reportedly contributed $500,000 per year towards legal support.

Thanks to the Sony leak, that fund is probably going to be used sooner than anticipated.

Google has spoken out about the secretive actions to revive SOPA and attack their business through corroboration with State Attorney General Jim Hood.

“We are deeply concerned about recent reports that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) led a secret, coordinated campaign to revive the failed SOPA legislation through other means, and helped manufacture legal arguments in connection with an investigation by Mississippi State Attorney General Jim Hood.

[…]

“The MPAA conspired to achieve SOPA’s goals through non-legislative means
According to The Verge, ‘at the beginning of this year, the MPAA and six studios … joined together to begin a new campaign’ to figure how it could secretly revive SOPA.”

Google directly accuses the organization of doing the “legwork” for Hood.

“The MPAA then pitched Mississippi State Attorney General Jim Hood, an admitted SOPA supporter, and Attorney General Hood sent Google a letter making numerous accusations about the company.

“The letter was signed by General Hood but was actually drafted by an attorney at Jenner & Block—the MPAA’s law firm. As the New York Times has reported, the letter was only minimally edited by the state Attorney General before he signed it.”

It’s been reported that Google filed a lawsuit against Mississippi State Attorney General Jim Hood on Friday morning, citing MPAA-led interference.

Google claims that Hood has taken “burdensome, retaliatory” actions against the company and has overstepped the legal authority granted by his office.

“The Attorney General may prefer a pre-filtered Internet, but the Constitution and Congress have denied him the authority to mandate it.”

Google has asked that the court enjoin Hood, which would prevent the state attorney general from taking any additional legal actions against it.

Google has formally requested that the MPAA and Jenner & Block as to retain any documents related to “Project Goliath.”

This strongly suggests that further legal action is coming.

The terrible irony in this matter is that much of this secret warfare was acted out in the hopes that Google would remain ignorant and that the parties would never have to endure a direct legal conflict.

With Google now on the offensive, those hopes are thoroughly dashed.

Not only that, but the MPAA and various parties that have been outed by the Sony leaks may have accidentally woken a sleeping giant in the form of a very angry Google.

[Image Credit: Shawn Collins]

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