Google reportedly sends automated ones alerts to Google Fiber customers, which include notices of copyright infringement and demand that they be remedied.
Google seems to be transmitting the fines from copyright holders along with the announcement that their content has been abused. The automated communications sent by the service Google Fiber includes requests for payments ranging from 20 to 300 dollars as reported by TorrentFreak.
TorrentFreak reports that it has seen settlement requests from at least two copyright protection firms forwarded by Google to Google Fiber subscribers. One of the automated emails warned the subscriber about permanent vacation of the service in case of repeated violations.
TorrentFreak has published copies of the two announcements allegedly sent by Google. One of those signed by the Google Fiber team informs the subscriber that a copyright owner had told Google that the client's account had been used to download copyrighted material.
These letters are sent under the auspices of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which gives copyright owners the right to send service removal notifications to Internet users who use their links for illegal downloads.
Organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have pointed out that the use of automated systems to detect "illegal" IPs with automated alerts to alleged offenders often leads to censorship of perfectly legal content.
“Despite the fact that Google has the means analysisof takedown announcements to reject those that are unwarranted, he does not always do so.”
According to Mitch Stoltz, an EFF lawyer, ISPs in the US have no legal obligation to transmit DMCA requests to consumers.
However, these requests seem to have found their way.