Red site! Copyright group proposes "traffic lights" search results
- Monday, 25 July 2011 13:40
Copyright holding groups are always coming up with creative ideas for the classification and ranking of content. Here's another that hadn't occurred to us. Why not ask search engines to attach "red light" symbols next to sites categorized as a "risk" and put green ticks next to sites deemed safer?
That's exactly what a United Kingdom music copyright royalty collection organization proposes.
"Traffic Lights provide a visual indication to users approaching an unlicensed site that the site is facilitating copyright theft," explains the Performing Rights Society for Music's new plan (PDF).
"The traffic light—a green tick or red cross—would appear next to a link to the site in question. The traffic light can be applied wherever the site is, not just those in the UK, increasing the ability of consumers to protect themselves from sites hosted abroad and increasing their confidence in legitimate sites."
