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Google’s executives convicted of violating privacy laws
An Italian court on Wednesday convicted Google’s three executives for violating country’s privacy laws. It’s the first case ever where company’s executives are being held criminally responsible for the content posted on company’s system.
by Priyanka - February 25, 2010 - comments
All three officials were convicted because of the video clip, posted on company’s system in 2006, where group of teenagers were shown harassing an autistic boy.
The names of Google’s officials sentenced are Chief Privacy Counsel Peter Fleischer, David Drummond, senior vice president and chief legal officer, and George Reyes, a former chief financial officer.
However, the judge cleared all of them of defamation charges and they could appeal if they want. The fourth defendant, Arvind Desikan, was charged only with defamation.
Bill Echikson, a spokesperson for Google, called the ruling “astonishing” and made it clear that the company would appeal. Google also wrote in its official bog posting that the ruling “attacks the very principles of freedom on which the Internet is built.”
Google’s reaction to the ruling
The whole issue started in 2006 when a video showing an autistic boy being harassed by group of teenage boys was posted on Google’s site and it had angered many people.
According to prosecutors, Google did not act speedily to remove the controversial video but only acted after an Italian group, representing people suffering from Down syndrome, lodged complaint with the police.
Google defended itself by saying that the company removed the video within two hours of receiving complaint from the Italian authorities.
However, prosecutors held Google officials accountable for offending sensibilities of people because as per Italian law, corporate executives are equally responsible for company’s actions.
On this Google said that the ruling is in contrast with a European Union directive on electronic commerce that protects service providers from being liable for the content hosted by them. Goggle also said that it could be a scheme against it.
Alfredo Robledo, one of the prosecutors said, “To say this is about censorship has a big media effect, but is false. This is about finding a balance between free enterprise and the protection of human dignity.”
Case against Google, a move to exert more control over Internet?
In Italy where most of the private media is owned by Prime Minister Silvio Berclusconi, experts believe that this move against Google could be an indirect way to exert more control over Internet in the country. Several measures are pending in Parliament, seeking to impose various controls over the Internet.
“It’s a deliberate effort to control the means of communication,” said Juan Carlos de Martin, the founder of the Nexa Center at Turin’s Polytechnic University.
Italy at present ranks lowest when it comes to Internet use and e-commerce in Europe and experts fear that Wednesday’s ruling will erode the nation’s rank furthermore.