This is crazy. In 2006, a video was uploaded to Google Video by students in Turin, Italy. The video showed them bullying an autistic kid. Google took the video down as soon as they were notified of it's existence. Google then notified the Italian Police and the student responsible for uploading the video was sentenced for 10 months community service. A punishment that fits the crime. Case-closed, right? Yeah, until a public prosecutor decided to indict four Google employees on counts of defamation and failure to comply with the Italian code of privacy. All four were found not guilty on the counts of defamation, but three of the four were charged with failure to comply with Italian Privacy law. Read Google's statement here.
This is a Big decision! If the employees of Internet hosting platforms can be found liable for what everyday citizens upload and post onto the Web, we may find many innocent people going to jail/paying fines/picking up trash on the side of the road. I don't think that is fair and hopefully this ruling, which is being appealed, gets overturned. Think about it.... I throw a rock at you, film it and put it on YouTube, where your best friend just happens to work. YouTube finds it, deems it inappropriate and takes it down. Then, not only do I get in trouble for posting the video but your best friend does too. Does that make any logical sense? I'm curious to know on what grounds the Google employees failed to comply with the Italian Privacy Code. What do you Think?
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