An Italian court has again postponed a trial of four Google
executives which could threaten the future of online video-sharing
services.
The trial, which has been
delayed several times after it began February, relates to a
video posted on Google's Italian video sharing website in 2006 of
four teenagers mocking a disabled classmate.
The trial was to
resume yesterday, but due to the illness of an interpreter, has
now been delayed postponed until September.
Italian authorities charged the four Google executives with
failing to protect personal data after conducting a two-year
investigation.
Google's global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer, chief legal
officer David Drummond, former CFO George Reyes, and a former
Google Video executive face up to 36 months in prison if found
guilty.
Italian prosecutors argue that Google did not have adequate
content filters or enough staff to monitor content, and that the
video was uploaded without the consent of all parties involved.
Google's defence has been that it removed the video as soon as
the company became aware of it and has co-operated with
investigators in identifying the four boys involved.
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.
In a statement issued ahead of the trial, Google said the case
was "akin to prosecuting mail service employees for hate speech
letters sent in the post."
Google has argued that the case hits at the heart of internet
freedom, saying it will be impossible for providers to check the
thousands of videos that are uploaded to sites like YouTube every
day.
According to legal and privacy experts, the outcome of the trial
could result in new privacy rules that could make it extremely
difficult or even impossible for video-sharing websites to
operate.