Breaking: Google Executives Convicted in Italy

In a landmark case today, the  Italian court convicted three Google executives of privacy violations saying that they did not act quickly enough to remove an online video that showed sadistic teen bullies pummeling and mocking an autistic boy.

In a very closely monitored case around the world, because of it’s implications for Internet privacy and freedom, Italian Judge, Oscar Magi, sentenced the three in absentia to a six-month suspended sentence and absolved them of defamation charges. A fourth defendant, charged only with defamation, was acquitted. All four had denied wrongdoing.

The convicted were,Google’s global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer, its senior vice president and chief legal officer David Drummond and retired chief financial officer George Reyes. Senior product marketing manager Arvind Desikan, based in London, was the one acquitted.Oddly enough no searches for Mr. Desikan came up with any photos or real information although a few autism sites came up as well as odd Google logos of the month. Hmmm…

The charges in this case were sought by Vivi Down, an advocacy group for people with Down syndrome, even though the boy does not have the syndrome as reported in many blogs. The group alerted prosecutors to the 2006 video showing an autistic student in Turin being pushed, pummeled with items, and insulted by bullies at school, who called him a “mongoloid”.

The  verdict could help determine legally  whether the Internet in Italy — and perhaps around the globe  — is an open, self-regulating platform or if content must be better monitored for abusive material. The ruling comes as the Italian government is looking at tighter restrictions on social networks and YouTube, which is owned by the American-based Google. where a draft bill would require Internet sites to control content the same way television stations do. Google has lobbied for changes to the bill.

Mediaset, the company owned by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, is also seeking 500 million euros in damages from YouTube  for copyright infringement.

Google Italy, which is based in Milan, said it took down the video two hours after being notified by police, as is required by law. Prosecutors argued that viewers had flagged it well before police contacted Google, and the fact that it shot to the top of a “most entertaining videos” list on the Italian site, had 5,500 views and 800 comments during the two months it was online meant it should have been noticed sooner. It is interesting to note that the events occurred just before Google’s acquisition of YouTube.

Marco Pancini, Google’s senior policy counsel in Italy, Wednesday spoke of the sentence:

(it is) an attack on fundamental principles of freedom”. We will appeal against a decision that we don’t consider surprising. Our colleagues have nothing to do with this video. They are not in the video, they have not filmed it, downloaded it or seen it.”

The four boys in the video were identified, arrested  and sentenced to community service in juvenile court.

The major implication in this landmark case is that it may force providers to sift through the multitude of videos and information uploaded every day to pre-screen the content.

UPDATE: 3 Soundbytes, 3 varying views on the Google Conviction
Here is a soundbyte from Bill Echinson, Spokesperson for Google Operations in Southern and Eastern Europe commenting on how this ruling will affect Internet Freedom:
[audio:google-conviction1.mp3]
Another by the Italian prosecutor in the case claiming that it was to “protect the innocent”:
[audio:google-prosecuter.mp3]
The last by a well-known Italian journalist who claims politics may have come into play:
[audio:google-journalist.mp3]

via Italy Convicts 3 Google Execs In Abuse Video Case : NPR.