

Google Executives Face Jail Time for Italian Video - brentb
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/google-executives-face-jail-time-for-italian-video/

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markup
The entire case is really grottesque. It’s thank to that video that the
_idiots_ (sorry, I can't just find another term) got busted and proper actions
have been taken to make some justice for the boy with Down syndrome.

This is only yet another way to prove that our (I am italian) justice system
is such a total failure on so many side that it hurts.

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Retric
After reading this all I can think is...

Note to self: Block Italian IP's

How on earth does a case like this get prosecuted?

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sh1mmer
Punishing Italian internet users isn't at all like punishing Google executives
for Youtube is it?

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GavinB
Unless this case ends up dismissed or easily won, Google should redirect all
Italian IPS to a page explaining what has happened and that they are unable to
do business in Italy until the laws are changed.

They should add a "contact your government" feature that lets Italian internet
users let their parliament know what's going on.

This isn't punishing Italian internet users it's a necessary safety
precaution. It's not worth doing business somewhere that puts your employees
in danger of jail time for doing their jobs.

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acangiano
As an Italian who has left Italy in disgust several years ago, I have a hard
time considering my country of origin to be a first world nation. Companies
should be weary of doing business in Italy until the draconian laws there are
revoked.

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pg
In related news, they also seem to have outlawed blogging:
[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/26/italian_law_kills_bl...](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/26/italian_law_kills_blog/)

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prakash
Not only that, kebabs as well:
[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_dri...](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article5622156.ece)

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davidw
Italy's in a bad way right now. Consider that they still have Berlusconi as
their leader, who first made his appearance in the early 90'ies. Imagine if we
still had Bill Clinton, Ross Perot and Bush Sr. contending the presidency in
the US.

I think long term that Italy will continue to punch above its weight, as it
has in the past: Roman empire, Renaissance, and some pretty decent stuff in
decades past, for that matter - not bad for a relatively small country without
much in the way of natural resources. But I don't know when that will be.
We're headed back there next month, but we may not be staying too long. It's
sad, because it's such a wonderful place in many ways, with plenty of very
bright, creative, hard working people.

~~~
josefresco
"Imagine if we still had Bill Clinton"

We can only dream ;)

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mattmaroon
I'm actually less shocked that they're bringing criminal charges than that
it's illegal to post a video making fun of the mentally handicapped. It's
clearly in bad taste, but I can't imagine living somewhere where even the
poster of the video had committed a crime.

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sh1mmer
I'm pretty sure that it would be considered a hate crime in the UK. This is an
arrestable offense which can carry a range of punishments depending on the
severity (e.g. physical assault vs verbal assault).

See [http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/reducing-
crime/ha...](http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/reducing-crime/hate-
crime/)

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ryanwaggoner
This is such a joke...does anyone really think that Google's senior executives
are going to face jail time due to some trial in Italy? Laughable.

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russell
Apparently one of Google's lawyers was arrested in Italy.
[https://www.privacyassociation.org/index.php?option=com_cont...](https://www.privacyassociation.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1745&Itemid=228)

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markup
Arrested? They aren't talking about any arrest on that article

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russell
They took him before a public prosecutor for a deposition. It doesn't say he
was charged, but it sounds like he was detained. May "arrested" was too
strong, but it certainly wasn't something that could be laughed off.

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markup
He wasn't detained.

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TrevorJ
Edit* this must be why google patented the floating offshore datacenters...so
they can operate outside of territorial waters and evade extradition.

If Exec's are directly personally responsible for content created by user's of
a site in Italy it kinda makes you think twice about operating a site there.
Pretty scary actually. I don't condone the video, nor do I think web services
should not take some responsibility to monitor content, but it's not feasible
or sane to assume they can catch all or most of what might be illegal in one
country or the other.

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jacquesm
I don't know why they would get a patent on something that obvious. They could
simply do it without needing a patent.

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jcl
Moreover, if a company copied them to gain similar legal immunity, who would
they sue for patent infringement?

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uberc
Interesting to note that the individuals named are all non-Italian Google
execs and employees. Perhaps the Italian government has no real intention of
punishing individuals, but just wants to make a stink about this to try to
scare UGC sites into being responsible for their content. The impossibility of
extradition gives them cover. If they named Italian Google executives or
employees, which I'm guessing they easily could have, they'd actually have to
put people in jail and face the absurdity of these changes in a very concrete
way.

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tlrobinson
This will be about as successful as the MPAA's attempts sue The Pirate Bay,
etc.

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smanek
After this trial ends, they should just not offer service to Italian internet
users or businesses ... Ideally they should set up some sore of embargo with
all the major players [content providers, network owners, software producers,
etc]. I think that a lot of companies would be willing to join in to help make
an example of Italy so other countries don't try the same sort of bullshit in
the future.

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jcl
Unfortunately, there are still other companies that would be happy to take
Google's slice of the market in their absence. I'm sure Microsoft wouldn't
mind taking over search services, and there are plenty of user-generated
content sites that would be willing to risk an unlikely extradition in
exchange for Italy's YouTube users.

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DenisM
Any free services listing Italian IP address ranges?

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vaksel
isn't Google covered by precedents, or at least their terms of service?

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tkhggauwfawvyk
Generally terms of service don't trumpet national laws.

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smanek
s/trumpet/trump/

