Legal Research

Does this Make Sense to You?

Today Google’s Global Privacy Counsel Peter Fleischer, along with 3 other company officers — David Drummond, Google’s Chief Counsel, George Reyes, former CFO, and another, unnamed person — will appear before the Milan Criminal Court, reports the NY Times’ Saul Hansell.

Their case involves a video uploaded to YouTube in September 2006 by students who had tormented a handicapped classmate. Google removed the offending video within 24 hours after receiveing 3 takedown requests, including one from the Italian Interior Ministry. Nevertheless, Italian authorities decided to bring criminal charges against Google as an Internet content provider — not as an Internet Service Provider — for violating privacy laws.

According to the International Association of Privacy Professionals, Italian law holds Internet content providers responsible for stuff that third parties post to their sites. Internet Service Providers, however, are not.

I understand that Google has to walk a tightrope, especially with regard to freedom of speech and YouTube.  And Google’s been sued in Belgium, France, and Germany over trademark or copyright issues. But that’s all in civil court. This is a criminal case, for heaven’s sake. I don’t get this at all.

Full post as published by Jenkins Webblits on February 03, 2009 (boomark / email).