TechCrunch first reported this, so I decided to check for myself. Yahoo! appears to be preventing ThePirateBay.org from being listed as a result in its searches. I’ve check through eight pages of results for “pirate bay,” and the site is not listed. A more direct search for piratebay.org also does not turn up the site. Google, Ask, and MSN still have the site listed as the top search result.

For those unaware, The Pirate Bay is a controversial BitTorrent site that has earned the wrath of the MPAA and RIAA. Both have lobbied to have the site shut down, but have been unsuccessful thus far as the company is located in Sweden. A list of legal threats against the company is available on their website.

Is this censorship? Is this the beginning of Yahoo! filtering other sites large organizations oppose? What happens if the government asks Yahoo! to filter results it does not care for? I know personally I will not use their search until their actions are explained and ThePirateBay.org returns to their top search position.