An Italian judge has given the go-ahead toa case that could hold Google responsible for
contentprovided by users of the company's
online video hosting service.
Four Google privacy executives have been charged with defamation
and failure to exercise control over personal data.
The charges follow a two-year investigation by Italian
authorities into a three-minute video posted to Google's Italian
website in which four teenagers make fun of a boy with Down's
syndrome.
Google removed the video within 24 hours of receiving
complaints, but Milan public prosecutor Francesco Cajani decided
that Google had broken the law by allowing the video onto its
site.
Judge Oscar Magi yesterday accepted a Down's syndrome
association and the Milan city council as the plaintiffs after the
withdrawal of the boy at the centre of the row.
The boy's lawyer said he had withdrawn because it was not in his
best interests to proceed and because Google had expressed its
regret over what happened, according to
IT World.
The trial, set to continue on 17 March, could set a precedent
for providers of services that allow users to post content
online.
The case will examine whether sites such as Google should be
held responsible for third-party content and whether they should be
subject to laws of outside countries.
Google is being prosecuted as an internet content provider and,
unlike service providers, Italian law states that content providers
are responsible for third-party content.
The same law regulates Italian newspaper and television
publishers, but Google says the internet is more like a tool than a
publication and the company cannot be blamed for how it is
used.
The trial, which is expected to last for months, is believed to
be the first involving criminal charges against privacy
professionals for their company's actions.
Google's global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer, chief legal
officer David Drummond, former CFO George Reyes, and a former
London-based Google Video executive face up to 36 months in prison
and fines of up to $320,000 (£222,418) if found guilty.
Meanwhile in the US, a federal judge has dismissed a legal claim
by a Pittsburgh couple that
Google's Street View feature violated their privacy, the
BBC
reports.
Christine and Aaron Boring sued Google after photos of their
home appeared on the free mapping program, but Judge Amy Reynolds
Hay of the US District Court for Western Pennsylvania said case was
without merit.
She said while it is possible to imagine that many whose
property appears on Google's virtual maps resent the privacy
implications, it is hard to believe that anyone would suffer shame
or humiliation, as claimed by the Borings.