Leaked emails show how the MPAA wants to censor the internet

The Motion Picture Association of America has responded to Google’s condemnation of Project Goliath, a secret and ambitious anti-piracy program revealed in leaked Sony documents. Yesterday, the search company said it was “deeply concerned” by the MPAA’s efforts to push new content-blocking methods and help attorneys general build legal cases against Google, accusing the organization of attempting to “secretly censor the internet.” But a spokesperson for the MPAA says these claims are disingenuous.

Recently leaked emails shed light on how Hollywood is working with state attorneys general to try and push anti-piracy policies that are largely unpopular with the American public. Culture and tech news site The Verge recently reported that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has made efforts to revive principles from the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a controversial anti-piracy bill that Congress killed in 2012 following widespread objection. SOPA would have allowed the government to block some website domains, and to delist from search engines sites repeatedly accused of piracy. MPAA’s anti-piracy strategy, based on emails released as part of last month’s extensive Sony hack, appeared to involve working with state attorneys general to target “Goliath” — believed to be a reference to Google, a major opponent of SOPA.