An Italian judge found three Google executives guilty of violating the privacy of a disabled student after a video of him being bullied was posted on Google Video.
Judge Oscar Magi sentenced the three Google executives to a six-month prison sentence for privacy violation, but cleared them of defamation charges. A fourth marketing executive was found not guilty.
In late 2006, students at a school in Turin, Italy filmed and then uploaded a video to Google Video that showed them bullying an autistic schoolmate. Just hours after the video was posted, Google immediately removed the video as soon they were notified by the Italian police. Google even helped the Italian police identify the person responsible for uploading the video and she was sentenced to 10 months community service by a court in Turin along with classmates who were also involved in making the video.
Google plans to appeal the court’s decision and said the case’s conclusion could influence how it operates in Italy, if not Europe.
Google responded to the ruling in a blog post calling it “serious threat to the web in Italy”:
we are deeply troubled by this conviction for another equally important reason. It attacks the very principles of freedom on which the Internet is built. Common sense dictates that only the person who films and uploads a video to a hosting platform could take the steps necessary to protect the privacy and obtain the consent of the people they are filming. European Union law was drafted specifically to give hosting providers a safe harbor from liability so long as they remove illegal content once they are notified of its existence.
Google is also being investigated in Italy by antitrust authorities after newspaper publishers complained Google used its search business to deny them a fair share of online advertising revenue.
It is also facing a lawsuit by Mediaset SpA, the television company controlled by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, on charges that YouTube infringed its copyrights by having clips from a TV program produced by Mediaset.
Tariq Ali is an avid follower of the search engine and Internet marketing industry for the past 10 years. When he is not working or playing with tech gadgets, you will find him swimming, biking or running.
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Tags: Italy, Judge Oscar Magi, Privacy Violations
