Only a matter of days since Google was slammed by a US consumer watchdog regarding the treatment of sensitive electronic medical records, four Google execs are being prosecuted charged with breaching Italian privacy laws. The world is watching with interest as the case unfolds due to the ambiguous nature of the charges and the potential effects the decision could have on laws governing cyberspace.
The case is based around a video which was hosted on Google’s Italian language site in 2006. The video depicted a seventeen year old Italian student with Down Syndrome being harassed by classmates. The significance of the decision lies in the main executive on trail is the Paris based senior privacy counsel for Google, which according to the IAPP website is the first criminal action that has been brought against a privacy professional for the company’s conduct.
EU Law states that third party internet service providers cannot be held accountable for the content of their sites however must remove any material deemed offensive if complaints are received. The video was hosted on Google for two months until they received a number of complaints regarding the posting, including one from the Italian interior ministry. The video was removed within 24 hours of receiving the complaint and Google maintains that it has not done anything wrong.
The Italian prosecutors are treating Google as an internet content provider as opposed to an internet service provider, meaning that they have similar laws regulating them as a newspaper, magazines or television. Google rejects this concept exclaiming that the online platform is used as an application for users to upload video, making it impossible to screen them before they are published online.
Even at this early stage it seems there are huge holes in the prosecution’s case. The EU regulations passed in 2003 clearly state that internet service providers are not responsible for content and Google conformed to the removal of the information in response to complaints. If Google is in fact an internet content provider then the server hosting the content is located in the United States so where does the Italian jurisdiction come from?
The plaintiff is an Italian individual and the Italian penal code makes special provision for cases involving citizens with disabilities; meaning that the public entity of Milan can make a civil case against Google. The case seems pivotal on how Google is interpreted, as a service or content provider. A decision against Google might compromise the freedom of internet service providers which will inevitably lead to a certain level of online censorship not seen before.
The young perpetrators of the documented crime have been prosecuted and each received a community service order. When decided to unwittingly upload their video it is doubtful they had any understanding of the potential ramifications theirs actions might have. The world watches the development of this legal battle in interest, however it is expected to be a drawn out process.
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