Italy to charge Google over taunting video

Google faces criminal charges because of a video posted on the company's Italian Web site showing a teenager with Down syndrome being taunted by classmates in a Turin school.

The United Kingdom's TimesOnline reports that the clip, which lasts for 191 seconds, "showed the youths making fun of the teenager before hitting him over the head with a box of tissues."

The video got posted in 2006 but was subsequently removed after its existence become known.

A representative for Google Italy said the company was disappointed with the decision, which follows a two-year investigation by Italian magistrates.

"While we would like to renovate our solidarity to the family of the boy and to the Vividown association, we strongly believe that this proceeding is not about Google video and what happened, but is about the Internet as we know it, an open and free environment. We will keep collaborating with the General Attorney of Milan and the Court in order to prove that all the Googlers under investigations had no involvement in the Vividown case."

Italian authorities say that four executives from Google will be charged with breach of privacy and defamation. These include the person who was chairman of Google Italy at the time, as well as a former Google Italy board member, an executive responsible for European privacy policy, and the former head of Google Video for Europe.

[SlimGem]

It must be frustrating dealing with ignorant bureaucrats like that.
Did they punish the punks who did this and posted it?

[CyR00k]

If we apply this logic to the incident in which President Bush choked on snack food in the oval office the news outlets that broadcast that story, as well as, the journalists would be liable for defamation of character.

Does that mean that TV journalists are criminals who should be prosecuted for breaking a news story? And in this example, the TV broadcaster for airing the channel that ran the news programme?

No of course not, since a person cannot be sued for defamation if the person in question actually did what the first person saw them do. In this case, the persons in question are guilty of harassment and possibly assault, they have no case.

[Gabey8]

Several complete ignoramuses posted a video of themselves making fun of and hitting a classmate with Down Syndrome, probably because they thought it was funny.

Google is responsible for this HOW?

The only people who should be answering for the existence of that video are the jerks who were doing the taunting. They're the ones who need to be held accountable for their own behavior.

[sanenazok]

Welcome to Urope Makes comments like Internet is a bunch of pipes sound technologically advanced.

[Farthing Haypenny]

What is with the euros? The Belgies and French sued Google because it linked to their news stories. Google should sue them back for the money they made on the traffic.

[sal-magnone]

Just another EU Clown Court in action.

[gerrrg]

It took the Italian Magistrate TWO years to investigate. That's half-life of a President's term in office.

Those Italians move slower than the speed of Snail Mail.

[GlennAllen]

All of the Italians I've know and worked with were quite smart... clearly, they weren't magistrates; a politician is a politician is a politician, no matter what country you're in--IQ drops 100 points as soon as you get into office.

[macrhino]

Why stop at Google? What about the ISP who "allowed" the people to post it? How about the Telco whose lines were used by the ISP? And the regulators who are supposed to be stopping this kind of thing? Shouldn't they all be under investigation. This video would not have been posted without the collusion of an electrical utility as well; another investigation? Who made the computer used to upload the video, Dell, perhaps Apple? Are they under investigation?