The decision as to whether or not to block pirated movies and music from search results has been raging on for some time now. It is believed that Google received some 50 million link removal requests in 2012 - led by the Recording Industry Association of America, naturally. Now thanks to a new survey from American Assembly, we have some solid numbers on what web surfers would like to see done on the subject.
According to the Columbia University-based survey, 53 percent of respondents said they would like to see access to sites hosting pirated content blocked from search engine results. This comes from more than 2,000 US citizens via telephone interview in August 2011. The same survey also revealed that among German residents, 69 percent supported blocking such sites.
As Neowin points out, these results are just a small part of an overall larger survey on copy culture. It's worth pointing out that the majority of those surveyed in the states believe it's alright to share content they own among friends and family. When it comes to public sharing, however, most were against the practice.
The survey brings up an interesting question actually; perhaps one that a lot of our readers have never even considered. With that said, how often do you encounter links to pirated content while using your favorite search engine? Do you believe such content should remain a part of search results or would you rather see big names like Google and Microsoft block them completely?