Four Google execs face jail in Italy
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- Four Google executives looking at up to three years in prison in Italy because of a cellphone video featuring four youths teasing a boy with Down syndrome.
“The four executives charged were not involved directly in handling video from Italy,” says Silicon Valley Insider.
“They include David Drummond (right), Google’s senior vice president and chief legal officer; George Reyes, its former chief financial officer; and Peter Fleischer, Google’s global privacy counsel, according to a Google spokesman. The fourth executive worked at Google Video in London, the spokesman said, declining to identify him.”
In 2006 a high school student posted a three-minute clip of himself and three others on the Google video site. It featured them, “bullying a 17-year-old with Down syndrome,” Online Media Daily.
The clip went live in September, but was taken down November 7, “within 24 hours of Google receiving complaints about it,” Says the story, adding:
“Fleischer’s arrest appears to mark the first time that a privacy executive has faced criminal charges for alleged privacy violations, said Trevor Hughes, executive director of the International Association of Privacy Professionals.”
“It’s a cautionary tale for anyone in the Internet business,” says Hughes in the story.
“The job risk profile just changed considerably.”
Google will “vigorously defend” before, it promises.
Silicon Valley Insider – Google’s Reyes, Drummond On Trial In Italy (GOOG) , February 3, 2009
Online Media Daily – Molto Disgusto: Video Brings Italian Wrath Down On Google, February 3, 2009
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February 3rd, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I wonder why they won’t go after the people that created and posted the video instead. This is ridiculous, they’re probably just trying to get money from google.
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Sounds like all user-generated content sites should block all of Europe. Then I bet those laws would get fixed in a hurry due to public outcry..
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:37 pm
It seems that there in no law which can detained those from uploading such videos on internet.
I think there should be a thorugh check on the videos to be uploaded.
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Unfortunately scanning a video for its content is just short of impossible. Computes can’t tell if a video is ‘offensive’ very easily. Only way to do that would be with human moderation, and there is too much submitted to allow that. The current system of removing after its complained about works fine. You just can’t punish a company for what its customers do with its products.
February 3rd, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Joe’s right- I mean, by this logic Italy should be able to arrest and charge any auto execs with murder caused by drunk drivers -_-
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:39 pm
So they’re willing to give 4 people criminal records for a show trial?
Implicit in the use of these sites is the understanding by the user that they’re responsible for the uploaded content. I mean they must be of fairly low intelligence to post a video that shows illegal content in the first place.
Checking content of everything uploaded is impossible.
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:39 pm
I think Joe has the answer. For those countries that have a problem with the internet and want to make the global internet providers of content responsible, the providers should ban the country from getting on the site. If they go through proxy, then the site has made a reasonable effort to constrain the data from the country.
If 1/2 the net disappears from the countries ability to receive content, I would suspect that the public outcry could be heard at the top of the heap.
February 3rd, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Italy is run by a fascist who can jail anyone who says bad things about him, including me.
I guess whose who elected him didn’t know the real meaning of “give him the boot”.
February 3rd, 2009 at 10:53 pm
*those