Google execs convicted in YouTube Italy case

From CNET News.com: In the second hit of a one-two punch in Europe, an Italian court handed out guilty verdicts on Wednesday for three of four Google employees charged in a case concerning a 2006 YouTube video posted of a teenager with Down Syndrome.

The judge in the case, Oscar Magi, gave suspended six-month jail sentences for privacy invasion to David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer; Peter Fleischer, Google's chief privacy counsel; and George Reyes, Google's former chief financial officer. They weren't convicted on defamation charges, though, and a fourth Google employee, Arvind Desikan, was cleared of all charges, Google said.

The findings come just one day after the European Union opened an antitrust investigation concerning Google search. There was a day when Google was an exciting newcomer to the technology landscape, but the company now is clearly a powerful force that has governments as well as competitors concerned.

In a Google blog post, the company criticized the decision and said it will appeal.

"In essence this ruling means that employees of hosting platforms like Google Video are criminally responsible for content that users upload," Google said. "It is outrageous that they have been subjected to a trial at all."

View: Article @ Source Site