The case revolves around a video uploaded to Google Video in 2006. The video that drew 5,500 views in the two months showed an autistic boy in Turin being pummeled and insulted by teenage bullies at school. Even though Google Italy pulled it down two hours after being notified by police, the boy's father and an advocacy group for people with Down syndrome complained that the video violated privacy protection laws.
The Italian prosecutors said that the verdict upheld privacy principles and put the rights of individuals ahead of those of businesses. He further added that the case would force Google and other firms to be held accountable for screening videos hosted on their sites.
But how can you hold a company responsible for contents that are uploaded by a third-party? In a rather strange move, the judge equated Google to other publishing media and mentioned that they are responsible for the content and that all the content should be regulated. It is the first time that an Internet company has been held responsible for the content posted on its system. It is definitely an infringement on the Internet freedom and this will definitely change the World Wide Web that we know. No doubt everyone around the world has been flabbergasted with this ruling and the implications that it might have are even more mind-boggling.
The tools of free speech will be gone if intermediaries like Google or anyone who host a web site can be persecuted for other people’s content. That would mean that the site has to regulate each and every content. That would also mean that personal blogging sites, video upload sites, social networking sites and community sites and boards can come under scrutiny and those sites would be responsible for all the content that an individual puts up. It would be like blaming the knife maker for the murder committed by someone using his knives.
In addition, the search and advertising business depends heavily on its reach into every corner of the global Internet and on providing users access to as much digital content as possible, regardless of its origins or ownership. But this Italian ruling poses a significant challenge to all the search and advertising firms as they can be legally held responsible for text, photographs or videos made available by third parties.
