Google demands studio firms to comply to summons

The search engine company, Google appealed to the New York federal judge to enforce a summon issued against movie companies- NBC Universal, Viacom and 21 Century Fox, to establish their alleged conspiracy with Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood.

Jim Hood was the investigator for a case against Google on whether the latter should be held responsible criminally and civilly for encouraging sales of objectionable material through its search engine and YouTube-sharing websites. The objectionable stuff included pornography and illegal drugs.

According a news agency, the plea made public on Tuesday read that the studios have produced no evidence in response to March 12 subpoena.

Court attendance of the studio firms, the search giant believes, will help establish that they conspired with Jim Hood.

Google Inc., sued the Mississippi Attorney General last December 19 to stop the investigation in the said case.

As part of the case, a California-based-firm- The Mountain View accused Jim Hood of being active pawn for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), whose member, it said, spent years taking up anti-Google programs. The three firms in question are among the six members of MPAA.

The issued summons seek communications with Jim Hood and other state attorneys-general about Google, and also information in connection to campaign donations by studios to Democratic Attorneys General Association.  Jim is member of the said association. 

In the court petition, Google accused the studio firms of  secretly choreographing and encouraging the Mississippi AG in violating Google's constitutional and federal right. It also read that given the negligible proof, Google cannot wait longer.

Spokesperson of Twenty-First Century Fox refused to comment on the issue, while representatives of NBC Universal, Viacom and MPAA did not respond to requests for comment. Even Jim Hood's office had no immediate comment.

On March 27,  U.S District Judge Henry in Jackson found a 'substantial likelihood' that the Mississippi AG violated Google's First Amendment rights by regulating the company's speech based on its content, and struck back by  issuing a 79-page summon to Google in October.