Chalk One Up for the Censors
And this one especially hurts because it comes from one of those countries that should be setting democratic examples not feeding excuses for autocrats the world over.
An Italian court (how come we keep getting bad press freedom news from this most civilized country?) has set a very dangerous precedent for the very viability of the Internet.
The Milan magistrate has sentenced three Google executives to a three-month suspended sentence for hosting a third-party video showing terrible cruelty to an autistic boy.
The video was posted on May of 2006 on YouTube showing several Turin youngsters insulting and physically attacking an autistic boy while doing the fascist salute. The video garnered about 5,500 hits until Google deleted it on Nov. 7 of that year.
The victim's attorneys eventually withdrew their claim, but Italian judicial authorities decided to move on with the legal cause, alleging that it took Google too long to delete the video even though many users had complained about it.
For the Italian judge to think that a gargantuan website such as Google, with millions of written, audio and video entries in its content would be able to monitor and control every single one of them, no matter how despicable or insulting it may be, he must be convinced that he is living sometime before the rising of the Renaissance.
So fast forward back to the 21st Century and let's hear what Google has to say about this.
The Associated Press:
Google also stated that they had worked with the Italian authorities to help identify those responsible for uploading the video, one of whom was eventually sentenced to 10 months of community service by a Turin court.
No matter how you slice it, this is a terribly sad story. Those who posted this despicable video and engineered this repulsive abuse of their freedom of expression are wholly responsible for the terrible damage inflicted on this poor innocent boy.
But don't take your anger out on the messenger, however unaware of its role it was. Start thinking about the social ills that fostered this kind of criminal behavior. Abusing an innocent child because of his mental condition? Giving the fascist salute while filming it? Posting it on the Internet?
Judge, would you please look around you?
An Italian court (how come we keep getting bad press freedom news from this most civilized country?) has set a very dangerous precedent for the very viability of the Internet.
The Milan magistrate has sentenced three Google executives to a three-month suspended sentence for hosting a third-party video showing terrible cruelty to an autistic boy.
The video was posted on May of 2006 on YouTube showing several Turin youngsters insulting and physically attacking an autistic boy while doing the fascist salute. The video garnered about 5,500 hits until Google deleted it on Nov. 7 of that year.
The victim's attorneys eventually withdrew their claim, but Italian judicial authorities decided to move on with the legal cause, alleging that it took Google too long to delete the video even though many users had complained about it.
For the Italian judge to think that a gargantuan website such as Google, with millions of written, audio and video entries in its content would be able to monitor and control every single one of them, no matter how despicable or insulting it may be, he must be convinced that he is living sometime before the rising of the Renaissance.
So fast forward back to the 21st Century and let's hear what Google has to say about this.
The Associated Press:
The judge has decided I'm primarily responsible for the actions of some teenagers who uploaded a reprehensible video to Google video," Google's global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer, who was convicted in absentia, said in a statement.
(…)
"We will appeal this astonishing decision," Google spokesman Bill Echikson said at the courthouse. "We are deeply troubled by this decision. It attacks the principles of freedom on which the Internet was built."
(…)
"We will appeal this astonishing decision," Google spokesman Bill Echikson said at the courthouse. "We are deeply troubled by this decision. It attacks the principles of freedom on which the Internet was built."
Google also stated that they had worked with the Italian authorities to help identify those responsible for uploading the video, one of whom was eventually sentenced to 10 months of community service by a Turin court.
No matter how you slice it, this is a terribly sad story. Those who posted this despicable video and engineered this repulsive abuse of their freedom of expression are wholly responsible for the terrible damage inflicted on this poor innocent boy.
But don't take your anger out on the messenger, however unaware of its role it was. Start thinking about the social ills that fostered this kind of criminal behavior. Abusing an innocent child because of his mental condition? Giving the fascist salute while filming it? Posting it on the Internet?
Judge, would you please look around you?
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