So I'm thinking if I want to boost my rankings, all I have to do is file a DMCA notice on my competitor's sites?
Certainly someone has to be doing this, somewhere. At worst, sneak your target URLs into a long list of torrents. How much is bumping off a few competing search results worth?
I wonder how much due diligence Google puts into verifying DMCA notices beforehand. And if you wanted to do it "legit" you could create some works with search terms you wanna censor. So like, "Hotel Reservations in X", a photograph of a Ramada Inn. Then get these takedown firms to go spam notices like Wicked did here, and collateral damage ends up removing some of your competitors.
The DMCA is deliberately designed to discourage recipients of takedown notices for doing any verification beyond that the notices ate in the correct form before complying, since the safe harbor only applies when a proper (in form) notice is complied with and there is expressly no liability that can attach for complying with a formally correct notice that is substantively incorrect.
So I'd assume any due diligence is directed at formal correctness rather than substance as any other approach would have added cost to implement while increasing legal risk.
Yeah, which means people have to check searches for their result, then the DMCA notice, then file counterclaim and wait for Google to reinstate it. Seems like a pretty nifty blackhat tactic, especially if timed right.
Certainly someone has to be doing this, somewhere. At worst, sneak your target URLs into a long list of torrents. How much is bumping off a few competing search results worth?