An Italian court has convicted three Google executives of violating privacy laws. The conviction was in absentia, meaning that the defendants were not even present.
The violation stems from a video showing an autistic boy being abused. The video was uploaded by a user and posted on Google’s site, not just reported through its search engine. It was removed within two hours of the time Italian police contacted Google. The Court held Google responsible, and pursuant to Italian law, held the executives responsible for the company’s actions.
The Court sentenced each of the three to six months’ confinement, but suspended the sentence. The executives are appealing, but they may not have the same incentive to fight the convictions because the consequences are light. This magnifies the worry that the case may establish a precedent. This is part of a trend where governments attempt to regulate or limit Internet content accessible in their countries. Some countries use this to stifle criticism or dissent.
One issue is whether providers should be held responsible for content posted by others. The United States adopted the Communications Decency Act in 1996, granting service providers immunity for content posted by others.
Another problem is jurisdiction. Should a country be able to exercise jurisdiction over a person just because he or she posted something on the Internet that can be accessed in that country? In the U.S. the state and federal laws on jurisdiction require a more substantial connection with the specific state, before a person can be sued there.
This holding potentially threatens everyone who maintains a website. If service providers are responsible for policing content posted by their users, then get ready to pay enough for Internet access to allow those providers to hire armies of people to police their sites. More importantly, how many people will post anything to the Internet if they face criminal prosecution in every country on the globe? You could potentially have to research the laws of almost 200 countries, before feeling safe about posting anything to the Internet.
Italian Court convicts three Google execs of violating privacy laws
An Italian court has convicted three Google executives of violating privacy laws. The conviction was in absentia, meaning that the defendants were not even present.
The violation stems from a video showing an autistic boy being abused. The video was uploaded by a user and posted on Google’s site, not just reported through its search engine. It was removed within two hours of the time Italian police contacted Google. The Court held Google responsible, and pursuant to Italian law, held the executives responsible for the company’s actions.
The Court sentenced each of the three to six months’ confinement, but suspended the sentence. The executives are appealing, but they may not have the same incentive to fight the convictions because the consequences are light. This magnifies the worry that the case may establish a precedent. This is part of a trend where governments attempt to regulate or limit Internet content accessible in their countries. Some countries use this to stifle criticism or dissent.
One issue is whether providers should be held responsible for content posted by others. The United States adopted the Communications Decency Act in 1996, granting service providers immunity for content posted by others.
Another problem is jurisdiction. Should a country be able to exercise jurisdiction over a person just because he or she posted something on the Internet that can be accessed in that country? In the U.S. the state and federal laws on jurisdiction require a more substantial connection with the specific state, before a person can be sued there.
This holding potentially threatens everyone who maintains a website. If service providers are responsible for policing content posted by their users, then get ready to pay enough for Internet access to allow those providers to hire armies of people to police their sites. More importantly, how many people will post anything to the Internet if they face criminal prosecution in every country on the globe? You could potentially have to research the laws of almost 200 countries, before feeling safe about posting anything to the Internet.