Emails between the MPAA and the Mississippi Attorney General's office have revealed a calculated campaign plan orchestrated in an attempt to revive SOPA-like website censorship and attack Google via various media outlets. The documents were uncovered in a lawsuit against the Attorney General by Google.
In late 2014, a secret agreement between the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and the office of Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood was revealed, in which the two attempted to revive censorship efforts similar to the failed SOPA initiative. In order to gather additional information about the plan, Google sued Attorney General Hood, and now, internal emails subpoenaed in the lawsuit show just how the two offices planned to potentially team up and smear Google in the media.
The emails offer a fascinating glimpse into the plan, which envisioned the hiring of a PR firm under the auspices of a nonprofit organization in order to hide ties to the actual originators, and then enlist the aid of Comcast and News Corp.
First, the emails suggest that the MPAA and Hood's office planned various media buys via the PR firm supporting the censorship efforts, which would culminate in a news segment on the topic to be aired on The Today Show, which is on NBC and owned by Comcast.
Then, a large Google investor would be secretly enlisted to speak out against Google's policies: "After the Today Show segment, you want to have a large investor of Google ... come forward and say that Google needs to change its behavior/demand reform, " the plan reads.
Then, News Corp would plant an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, suggesting that Google stock would lose value unless the company takes some sort of action on the issues: "Next, you want NewsCorp to develop and place an editorial in the WSJ emphasizing that Google's stock will lose value in the face of a sustained attack by AGs (Attorney Generals) and noting some of the possible causes of action we have developed," states the plan.
The plan then included an intention to present the National Association of Attorneys General with a series of videos demonstrating how easily users of Google's search engine could purchase heroin and order firearms, among other things.
"We want to make sure the media is at the NAAG meeting," the plan continues.
Then, in the "final step" of the plan, Attorney General Hood would issue his civil investigatory demand to Google.
Google is now asking the court to order NBC, Viacom and Comcast to release internal documents on the matter as well, since, based on the information already revealed, they were clearly aware of the secret plan.
