The trial in Milan of Google employees on charges of defamation
and failure to exercise control over personal data has been
postponed until 18 February.
The
International Association for Privacy Professionals (IAPP)
quoted a former Italian prosecutor as saying procedural delays are
common in such cases.
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 disabled
classmate.
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
if found guilty.
The trial will examine the degree to which Google is responsible
for content supplied by users of its video posting service
Under EU legislation, internet service providers are not
responsible for monitoring third-party content but they are
required to remove content considered offensive if they receive a
complaint.
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.
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.
Google has slammed the trial as totally wrong, saying it is like
prosecuting postal service workers for delivering a hate speech
letter sent in the post.
The internet firm has said it will defend its employees because
seeking to hold a neutral site liable for content posted on it is a
direct attack on a free, open internet.
The trial, which is expected to last for months, is the first
criminal charge against a privacy professional for his company's
actions, according to the IAPP.