Google is hoping to shut down sites like YouTube-MP3 that allow users to rip audio from videos and turn it into downloadable MP3s making it easy for users to own the tracks they've streamed on the video platform without the original copyright owner receiving any form of royalty payment.
According to the report posted by on TorrentFreak, sites like YouTube-MP3.org and Music-Clips.net have been receiving correspondence from Google stating their services are allowing users to download material from YouTube, which directly violates the company's terms of service.
Despite a response from the owner of YouTube-MP3, seeking negotiations to find a middle ground, Google do not seem to be interested and have already blocked all of YouTube-MP3 servers from accessing YouTube, which essentially makes their primary service redundant.
This move looks to be the first in a long battle as Google starts to crack down on illegal services starting with the biggest services and working their way down.