Tech Daily Dose

Google received more than 1.2 million requests to remove copyright-infringing content in the past month, according to an expanded online reporting tool launched by the Internet giant.

Google's Transparency Report has provided information on the number of governments that ask for content to be removed from Google's search results. On Thursday Google added data on the number of copyright complaints it fields.

Google did not publicize how many of those requests it honored, but the company notes that in the last half of 2011 it complied with 97 percent of requests. In a blog post copyright counsel Fred von Lohmann said the company processes such requests in an average of 11 hours.

The Internet giant was among the opponents of anti-piracy legislation that would have forced companies to take a more proactive approach to policing content from foreign websites. Von Lohmann pointed to "erroneous or abusive" requests, like one from an entertainment company targeting an online movie review.

Google's experience with copyright requests, von Lohmann wrote, indicates that current anti-piracy efforts are working.

"We believe that the time-tested 'notice-and-takedown' process for copyright strikes the right balance between the needs of copyright owners, the interests of users, and our efforts to provide a useful Google Search experience," he said in the post.