Three Google executives had been convicted of breaking Italian law after they allowed an abusive video to be uploaded to Google Video. The media shows an autistic teenager being bullied, a move which broke privacy violations explained Italian judge Oscar Magi.
As Richard Thomas, former Information Commissioner in the UK said that the conviction gave a “bad name” to privacy laws, it was confirmed that David Drummond, George De Los Reyes and Peter Fleisher had all been convicted. Meanwhile the court acquitted colleague Arvind Desikan.
Quickly responding to the move chief legal officer at Google David Drummond said “I intend to vigorously appeal this dangerous ruling. It sets a chilling precedent. If individuals like myself and my Google colleagues who had nothing to do with the harassing incident, its filming or its uploading onto Google Video can be held criminally liable solely by virtue of our position at Google, every employee of any internet hosting service faces similar liability.”
The fall out from the ruling is likely to have huge global consequences to all providers who offer internet content. Uploaded to Google Video in 2006, before the internet giant acquired YouTube, the firm explained that attempting to pre-screen content for hugely popular YouTube was impossible. Whilst lawyers for the company argued that not only was the content removed as soon as the video was brought to their attention, but they had also provided information on the uploaders. However, prosecutors continued to argue that privacy laws in Italy had been broken because consent was not sought from all individuals featured in the clip.
