Three Things To Think About In The Google Privacy Case
1. The video is beyond tasteless, but that's not what the case is about
Although the video is offensive and reprehensible, the case is about the violation of Italy's privacy laws. Italian privacy law prohibits the use of someone's personal data (in this case, the boy with Down's) with the aim of harming him or making money off of it. The teens responsible for the content creation were given community service by another judge.
2. When in Rome, do as the Romans do -- literally
Italy has different laws than the U.S. Obviously, Italians expect those laws to be followed. Whether or not Google violated those privacy laws will be reviewed on appeal. Google has asserted it is a service provider rather than a content provider. If the appeals court agrees that the lower court ignored a European Union directive on electronic commerce that gives service providers safe harbor from liability for the content they host, the verdict will be overturned.
3. The fish stinks from the head down
Many people are wondering why these executives are being punished, when they had nothing to do with posting the video. The Google higher-ups were named by prosecutors in the first place because Italian law holds corporate executives responsible for a company's actions. In fact, Google said the video was removed within two hours of the police notifying Google about the issue.
The entire case has a pall cast over it as some speculate that the Italian Prime Minister, media magnate Silvio Berlusconi, has a conflict of interest here, and is looking for a way to slow Google's growth (and by doing so, potentially increase his fortunes). Still, one wonders whether Google might agree to scan videos for bullying and related hate-crime content in the same way it screens for copyrighted and pornographic material uploaded to YouTube.