One former Google Inc. executive and two current managers at the company were found guilty of privacy violations by an Italian court today.
Milan Judge Oscar Magi ruled that David Drummond, Google’s senior vice president of corporate development, and Peter Fleischer, global privacy counsel, as well as George Reyes, a former chief financial officer, were guilty of the privacy violation charge. The three men were cleared of a defamation charge.
Drummond, Fleischer and Reyes were sentenced to six-month terms, which were suspended.
The executives of Mountain View, California-based Google were on trial in Milan on charges related to a clip uploaded to Google Video in 2006. The clip was created and posted on the Web by a group of students at a Turin school, who filmed themselves bullying a disabled classmate. Google says that it removed the video as soon as it was notified and that it helped Italian police identify those responsible. The trial was closed to the media at Google’s request.
Before being removed, the video was in Google’s “funniest videos” category for almost two months, reaching 5,500 views, according to prosecution filings.The four executives were tried in absentia in a closed-door trial.
Giuliano Pisapia, a lawyer who represented the defendants, declined to comment on the ruling.
Google spokesman William Echikson said at the Milan court that the ruling was “astonishing,” and that Google will appeal.
One more case is now added to the list of on growing online privacy violation. Three Google executives were charged for allowing the display of a video of an autistic boy being abused.
Milan Judge Oscar Magi ruled that David Drummond, Google’s senior vice president of corporate development, and Peter Fleischer, global privacy counsel, as well as George Reyes a former chief financial officer, were guilty of the privacy violation charge. The three men were cleared of a defamation charge.
Prosecutors insist the case is not about censorship but about balancing freedom of expression with the rights of an individual.
The four executives were tried in a closed-door trial.Google spokesman William Echikson at the Milan court termed the trial astonishing and reported that Google will appeal.
It is also reported that the video before being removed was tagged as “funniest videos” on YouTube for almost two months. The lawyer representing the defendant refused to comment.