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I started thinking about all the hot water Google got into with regards to the launching their different services, such as Google Street View, Google Books, and Google News. Google worked on each project, appropriated content that may or may not have been theirs to take, and then released the project, only to receive responses, “Hey, you didn’t ask me first if you could take that.”
Here in the U.S. ISPs and phone companies are not liable for content transmitted over its networks. Meaning, they don’t have to monitor every single thing that comes through and make sure it goes through an approval process. If someone brings legally objectionable content (e.g. violated intellectual property rights) to their attention, then they’re required to remove it. But if they had to do all the monitoring themselves, there’s no way the Internet could grow to the level it does today. The task would be too unsurmountable.
But it turns out in Italy, that’s not the case as three Google employees were convicted of a reprehensible video of an autistic kid being bullied. When the video was posted in 2006 and it was brought to Google’s attention, they removed it immediately (Read Google’s full account). The employees were not in any way involved in the video at all, it’s just that they happen to work for the company that hosted the video for a brief period of time. Google says it’s going to appeal Italy’s decision.
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