Times Skimmer
I was reading this news Google Faces A Different World in Italy from the New York Times and it is about Google’s criminal charges related to privacy in Italy. A senior executive in Italy may get to jail because of an outcry over an online video involving an autistic boy.
The implication if Google loses is that opens the discussion of who should be liable for information in the internet platforms, such as YouTube and even Google Search, in Europe. In the US, most of this discussions were solved by the Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act that creates a safe harbor for online service providers. Basically, people can only sue internet companies if it’s proven that the company hasn’t done anything to stop the offence (copyright or other legal offences). I’m impressed that Europe does not have such laws protecting online service providers yet.
It reminds me of a similar situation when the Google Brasil’s managing director was being held accountable for pedophile pictures on Orkut. Google Brasil and US created huge task-force to curb the infestation of that problem with people and new tools for the federal police. The initiative went really well and the government abandoned the charges. However, there is still no laws defining clearly what the responsibilities are for online service providers regarding about illegal or offensive material in their websites in Brazil.
I’m worried if governments start demanding companies to act as a censor for information flow. The cornerstone of Internet as we know is sharing information. When companies and government start blocking access to information, the internet will not be the same. Consequently, the way we use and do business on the Internet may also change.
Should Google censor information on behalf of governments?
Times Skimmer
I was reading this news Google Faces A Different World in Italy from the New York Times and it is about Google’s criminal charges related to privacy in Italy. A senior executive in Italy may get to jail because of an outcry over an online video involving an autistic boy.
The implication if Google loses is that opens the discussion of who should be liable for information in the internet platforms, such as YouTube and even Google Search, in Europe. In the US, most of this discussions were solved by the Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act that creates a safe harbor for online service providers. Basically, people can only sue internet companies if it’s proven that the company hasn’t done anything to stop the offence (copyright or other legal offences). I’m impressed that Europe does not have such laws protecting online service providers yet.
It reminds me of a similar situation when the Google Brasil’s managing director was being held accountable for pedophile pictures on Orkut. Google Brasil and US created huge task-force to curb the infestation of that problem with people and new tools for the federal police. The initiative went really well and the government abandoned the charges. However, there is still no laws defining clearly what the responsibilities are for online service providers regarding about illegal or offensive material in their websites in Brazil.
I’m worried if governments start demanding companies to act as a censor for information flow. The cornerstone of Internet as we know is sharing information. When companies and government start blocking access to information, the internet will not be the same. Consequently, the way we use and do business on the Internet may also change.