Pirate Sites – A Place For Governmental Agencies To Promote Their Businesses

[Guest Ethan]

Pirate Sites – A Place For Governmental Agencies To Promote Their Businesses

As far-fetched as it may sound, several agencies (funded by the US Government), namely the US Army, the National Guard, and Smokey The Bear are using pirate sites to advertise their businesses.

According to the Annenberg Innovation Lab (which is part of the University of Southern California), the US government apparently granted a vote of confidence to pirate sites. The lab’s monthly report points to the fact that the federal government is advertising on pirate sites. A rather unpleasant situation for the Obama Administration which, not long ago, swore to defend copyright and the jobs of those affected by piracy.

Ad Council, a non-profit organization that supervises ad campaigns for the US government, amongst others, was involved in the distribution of the aforementioned banners. While you may wonder whether the money goes into the websites’ pockets or not, an Ad Council spokeswoman said on Thursday that this is not the case. She added that Ad Council operates solely on a “donated media model.”

Furthermore, the money invested by governmental agencies and various sponsors into the production and distribution of public service campaigns does not cover for advertising payments, the Ad Council said.

In their defense, most agencies claimed that it’s nearly impossible to fully control how and where these ads show up, but representatives of the creative branch find it difficult to accept their argument.

They point to the fact that the same networks are able to prevent porn ads, alongside with other explicit material, from showing on distribution networks.

Annenberg Innovation Lab’s report can be seen here.