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BY Bloomberg

Google Inc. said it’s concerned about reports that the Motion Picture Association of America pushed state attorneys general to pressure the company over anti-piracy efforts, based on information in hacked Sony Corp. e-mails.

Steven Fabrizio, MPAA global general counsel, wrote about a plan by he and others in the film industry to persuade several attorneys general to pursue regulatory actions against Google, according to e-mails sent to employees at companies including Sony, Warner Bros., Walt Disney Co., 21st Century Fox Inc., Comcast Corp.’s NBC Universal and Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures. The e-mails were among those from Sony Pictures General Counsel Leah Weil that were released by hackers.

The efforts by the MPAA amounted to an attempt to censor the Web, Google said in a blog post today. The project, discussed amid the studios’ concerns about the availability of pirated media content, came after “a couple of the studio heads called for a ‘get tough’ strategy,” according to Fabrizio in a March e-mail. The e-mails don’t mention the company by name, instead referring to “Goliath,” which was the code name for Google, according to a report in the New York Times.

“One disappointing part of this story is what this all means for the MPAA itself, an organization founded in part ‘to promote and defend the First Amendment and artists’ right to free expression,’” Kent Walker, Google’s general counsel, wrote in the blog post. “Why, then, is it trying to secretly censor the Internet?”

Kate Bedingfield, a spokeswoman for the MPAA, declined to comment on Fabrizio’s behalf.

‘Additional Resources’

The e-mails refer to efforts to curb copyright infringement, a key issue for Hollywood’s content-dependent studios. By May, the project had advanced enough to require additional investments, according to a May 8 e-mail from Fabrizio.

“Creating an environment to potentially increase the impact of the AG effort requires additional resources devoted to investigation and analysis of Goliath,” that message said. “This investigation and analysis would give the AGs a greater understanding of the problems created by Goliath (ammunition/evidence against Goliath), and the technical solutions for those problems.”

Google and the movie studios have clashed in the past, especially over copyrighted material. In early 2012, anti-piracy bills backed by the studios failed after Internet companies, including Google and Facebook Inc., said the legislation would hinder innovation, chill free expression and disrupt the Web’s functioning.

SOPA’s Failure

“Almost three years ago, millions of Americans helped stop a piece of congressional legislation -- supported by the MPAA -- called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA),” Google’s Walker wrote today. “If passed, SOPA would have led to censorship across the Web.” Google “takes industry-leading measures in dealing with problematic content on our services,” he wrote.

Dee Dee Myers, a spokeswoman for Warner Bros.; Kori Bernards, a spokeswoman for Universal; Katie Martin Kelley, a spokeswoman for Paramount; and Chris Petrikin, a spokesman for Fox, declined to comment. Paul Roeder, a spokesman for Disney, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Bob Lawson, an outside spokesman for Sony at Rubenstein Communications, declined to comment.

MPAA’s Focus

Regarding the project discussed in the e-mails, the MPAA’s Bedingfield said the group is focused on protecting its members and their creative works, and “employing voluntary initiatives, policy solutions and legal actions. When wrongdoing is taking place online, we work with and support appropriate law enforcement officials, including the attorneys general, as do many other industries.”

Google, owner of the world’s most popular search engine, has come under increasing regulatory scrutiny as it has expanded its reach in advertising, mobile computing and other businesses. In recent years, Google has tangled with governments in the U.S. and around the world.

For example, European Union regulators are questioning Google’s rivals as the EU’s new competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, weighs whether to step up a four-year-old antitrust probe after settlement efforts stalled.

Technology news blog The Verge reported on the e-mails regarding the film industry’s effort against Google earlier this month.

‘Goliath’ Efforts

The e-mails show various efforts against “Goliath” being contemplated. They included lobbying to get attorneys general to issue civil investigative demands -- similar to subpoenas -- and determining which states are best for pursuing litigation, according to one of the e-mails.

In Google’s blog post, the company, after citing reports by the New York Times and other publications regarding the attorneys general, said Mississippi’s Jim Hood sent “Google a sweeping 79-page subpoena, covering a variety of topics over which he lacks jurisdiction.” In the hacked e-mails, one message refers to “Hood” as an official who should be targeted, without giving the person’s first name.

In an interview today, Hood said his efforts on intellectual property and copyright infringement aren’t about censorship -- instead, he said Google needs to be held accountable if content on its search engine and video service YouTube don’t adhere to state laws.

“Google is trying to create a media issue out of thin air,” Hood said, adding that he’s been working on these matters since before 2014. “This is an effort where the victims of the crime have expertise, and we work with them.”

In the hacked e-mails, there is also a call for help in building cases critical of Google.

“There is only so far we can get with the AGs unless we develop better evidence and intelligence against Goliath,” Fabrizio said in an e-mail in March.