Google in dire straits: violates Italian Privacy Laws
By Jayita, Gaea News NetworkThursday, February 25, 2010
Google, the search engine giant is trapped into yet another controversy. This time it has been accused of turning a blind eye to its social responsibilities. An Italian court has acquitted Google for hosting a video of a disabled boy being bullied by a group of students.
Three executive officials of Google has been sentenced six-month imprisonment by Judge Oscar Magi in Milan. David Drummond, Google’s senior vice president and chief legal officer; Peter Fleischer, its chief privacy counsel; and George Reyes, the company’s former chief financial officer are convicted for negligence of social responsibilities. The court also acquitted Google’s senior product marketing manager, Arvind Desikan.
During the trial Mr. Pisapia and other lawyers for Google’s executives denied any wrongdoing from Google’s side. They said Google had removed the video as soon as they got notification from Italian authorities. Google’s lawyers also defended the executives saying that they were not involved in the marketing plan.
The video was posted on Sep. 8, 2006 and Google was forced to remove it on Nov. 7 of the same year. It was an offensive video, showing a helpless boy being harassed by his classmates.
The ruling was disappointing to U.S, as told by David Thorne, U.S. ambassador to Italy. He described it as a blow to the freedom of the Internet.
The Italian move to hold Google for violating privacy law, will surely pose a significant challenge to company’s business model. It’s also a warning for other Internet companies that post content and video, provided by third parties.
