Four Google Officials Facing Charges In Italy For Errant Video 153
mikesd81 writes to tell us that four Google employees may be facing charges of defamation and failure to control personal data simply because they didn't remove a video of a boy with Down's Syndrome being harassed and eventually hit over the head with a box of tissue, from Google Video. The video was posted in September of 2006 and was removed by Google within a day of receiving the initial complaints, but apparently that isn't fast enough. "Google maintains charges against the employees are unwarranted, Pancini said. Europe's E-commerce Directive exempts service providers from prescreening content before it is publicly posted, he said. Also, the video was technically uploaded to a Google server in the US, not in Italy, Pancini said. 'It was a terrible video,' Pancini said, adding that Google is concerned about the case's impact on censorship on the Internet. The defendants include David C. Drummond, a Google senior vice president, corporate development and chief legal officer. Pancini said Drummond did paperwork to create Google Italy, but has never lived in the country."
Creating a precedent to serve our fascist regime (Score:1, Informative)
I'm italian. For those of you who didn't know, here's a highly condensed list of relevant events in our recent history.
1 - Fascism is back.
Every democracy challenged regime must control the information sources, youtube included, therefore they're working on it in a subtle way.
While that video surely shouldn't have been posted online and those bastards deserve a new ass treatment in some dark jail, I'm pretty sure our government is trying to force things to the point Google will give the government a tool to delete unwanted post, which - as history taught us - will soon include stuff that any truly democratic government would allow to be posted.
Re:Why go after Google? (Score:5, Informative)
Prosecutors do not decide what to prosecute in Italy. Felonies, when reported, must always be investigated. In this case, it was the ministry of Interior that sent in a complaint, and prosecutors are only doing their job. Should they decide to start a trial instead of archiving the case, then there will be a reason to insult them.
Re:At least they know their priorities (Score:5, Informative)
Re:corporations (Score:1, Informative)
Re:corporations (Score:3, Informative)
Pity, Italy's pretty cool. Of course, the average American never leaves the state they were born in let alone the country. It must be nice to live in an area so fucking awesome that you never want to leave it.
Awesome ... possibly, depending upon where you live. Big, definitely. And why would you assume nobody ever wants to leave it? Everyone here looks with envy upon those who are able to visit other countries, either for business or pleasure. I know it's popular to look upon Americans as ignorant boobs who think we're the center of the Universe (and, okay, looking at our President for the past eight years I guess I can see why) but really that's an unfair characterization.
Besides, look at the size of a typical European nation compared to the U.S. (or even some of the larger States.) You can travel fairly easily around Europe and visit any number of different countries by just driving or taking the train. On this continent, we have the United States, Mexico and Canada. That's it. Those you can get to easily enough, but international travel is significantly more costly. Most of us just can't afford it, much as we would like to. Personally, I want to visit Greece and Germany (since that's my ethnic background.) Someday I will.
Re:Long Italian tradition of standing up for the w (Score:3, Informative)
maybe not a legal precedent in the traditional sense, but just because there's no common law doesn't mean people won't imitate these actions and file similar cases after seeing the successful prosecution of the defendants in this case. heck, other European, and even non-European, countries could see it as an affirmation of "societally acceptable" censorship.
it's just like when the U.K. starts putting up surveillance cameras everywhere it, not only sets a bad example, but also makes it more permissible for, and in fact encourages, other governments to similarly encroach on the rights of their own citizenry, and likewise when the U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act was passed. in the age of modern international relations and global culture, events and policy decisions in one nation rapidly ripple outward to other nations, especially as the U.K. & the U.S. are purportedly the leaders of the "free world."
Italy isn't a global leader or superpower, but their cultural & political attitudes can still spread to their international peers. and all it takes is for one so-called democratic society to shift towards a reactionary/oppressive state unopposed to start a positive feedback loop, where each nation's own step towards fascism becomes justification for increasingly draconian policies in another nation.