[thirdsun]

> I mean, if I seed the internet with 20 SEO optimized sites about how you're a murdering rapist, should Google's right to keep that in results be defended?

In my opinion it should.

It makes much more sense to fight the actual source of the offending content, those 20 SEO optimized sites containing false information or the company that counterfeits those products (in Google's case). By forcing Google to alter its index you're shooting the messenger and wrongfully consider the problem solved.

[kbenson]

It isn't an either or. You want to do both, because doing one or the other doesn't really solve the problem created. If you can't get the perpetrator for some reason, at least having a way to mitigate the damage is useful. In some cases that might be de-listing in the search engine, in others it might be making a service provider take action. The trick is to not give it undue power so it can be used as a bludgeon where it doesn't make sense, and that balancing act is actually the hard part, IMO.