UFC vs. Google: Let's Get It On!

The UFC wasn’t kidding when they announced a renewed drive towards eliminating illegal internet distribution of copyrighted UFC event and media several months ago. Since that time they’ve sued countless internet websites, which includes both internet forums/message boards as well as illegal “streaming” sites, and even several brick-and-mortar bars that have shown UFC events for free. But it appears that the UFC is done fighting the small fish. In a sweeping move that just might put an incredible dent in the illegal streaming underground, the parent company of the UFC, Zuffa LLC, recently filed a copyright lawsuit against the one and only Google.

The entire complaint can be viewed here, but here are the highlights: “On behalf of Zuffa, LLC and/or its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, I am writing to notify you of the infringement of Zuffa, LLC’s intellectual property rights in the titles identified in this email in Google search results. Demand is hereby made that Google take immediate action to stop such infringements… Zuffa, LLC hereby demands that Google promptly remove and disable the links to all unauthorized copies of works whose copyrights are owned by Zuffa, LLC of which it is aware.”

I don’t think the war against piracy will ever be over, but I’ll be perfectly honest: if Zuffa is able to take Google out of the ballgame, the pirates just lost one of their ace players. Everyone uses Google. The phrase “Google it” entered the mainstream consciousness years ago. I myself use Google every chance I get, for basically anything and everything. It’s the only search engine I’ve used since… since what feels like forever. Only Wikipedia, YouTube (which is owned by Google!) and this fine site rival Google as the site I visit the most on a per-day basis. To give a more concrete example: I used Google Image Search to locate the Google logo that’s the title picture of this article. I’ve used Google so much and for so long that it’s basically second nature to me.

If this does end up having the intended effect that Zuffa wants it to have, it’s going to be very difficult to find an illegal stream in 2011. And I honestly think that’s a positive. I’ve never been against companies defending their copyrights, I’ve only tried to ground them in reality. But the reality of this situation is this: if Google acquiesces and makes a concerted effort to eliminate links to illegal UFC streams in order to not get sued, the war on illegal UFC streams will officially have tipped in the UFC’s favor. Some may even say that the war will have been won.

I, however, remain adamant: you can’t stop the underground. It’s not possible. You can chip away at it to such a degree that only the most tech-proficient nerds are able to get a stream up, stable, and on long enough to watch a show. You can make it so that pirates guard the links to their streams like hidden treasures and only hand them out to the ones most deserving or closest in their inner circle of friends. But so long as the internet exists, there will be people uploading copyrighted media. And that includes UFC streams and downloads. The virus will always exist, and the virus always finds a way.

Of course, this assumes that the lawsuit will go through as planned. Google is one of the biggest companies in the United States, I’m sure they have their own armies of lawyers that are currently picking through this complaint with a fine-toothed comb. It will certainly be interesting to see how this plays out.

And what about you, fans and friends? Who do you see winning this battle, and what effect do you think it will have on the illegal streaming community?