Google and Microsoft are reportedly joining forces to crack down on piracy websites (particularly those related to movies and music) in the UK.
The two companies have apparently formed a '
voluntary code of practice' with the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and Motion Picture Association following a series of discussions overseen by the UK's Intellectual Copyright Office.
Google and Bing have essentially vowed to reduce "the visibility of infringing content in search results" by the first of June 2017, which means demoting those websites known to harbor pirated content..
What this will ultimately mean for those who post pirated material online (at least the repeat offenders) is likely a rather significant drop in rankings for their websites. Google and Bing will likely send consumers towards legit sites instead.