Word: internetting
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...statement, Google reacted angrily to the verdict, calling it an "astonishing decision ... that attacks the very principles of freedom on which the Internet is built." The California-based search-engine giant, which owns YouTube, also said, "Common sense dictates that only the person who films and uploads a video to a hosting platform could take the steps necessary to protect the privacy and obtain the consent of the people they are filming." Google further claimed that European Union law gives hosting providers a "safe harbor from liability so long as they remove illegal content once they are notified...
...open networks and get off Google's back." Some bloggers compared the verdict to convicting postal workers for delivering hate mail. And in an unusual step, the U.S. ambassador to Italy, David Thorne, entered the fray, saying Washington was "disappointed" by the ruling, which he called a threat to Internet freedom. "While all nations must guard against abuses, offensive material should not be an excuse to violate this fundamental right," Thorne said in a statement...
Luca Sofri, a Milan-based journalist and author of wittgenstein.it, one of Italy's most popular blogs, says that even though Google and other Web-sharing platforms attempt to strike the right balance between allowing information to flow freely on the Internet and respecting individuals' rights, they still have a responsibility for what's posted on their sites. "As Spider-Man says, 'With great power comes great responsibility.' Allowing freedom of opinion does not mean you can be a platform for people to defame others or violate their privacy," Sofri says...
Still, he suspects that the case is also an example of how out of touch Italian political leaders and magistrates are with the massive changes in the way information circulates online. "They are judging the Internet with the same instruments of the past," Sofri notes. "The Web creates situations that are completely new and don't have paragons with the world before. If these incidents are happening all over the world and Italy is the only country to condemn Google for it, maybe there's something we haven't understood...
...Indeed, the verdict is just the latest in a series of clashes between Italian authorities and advocates of Internet freedom. The Interior Ministry has repeatedly attempted to shut down politically incendiary Facebook pages, and the government has also backed a measure requiring that anyone who uploads videos to the Internet have a license - a move critics say is an attempt by the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who owns Italy's main private TV network, to maintain control of the distribution of video content...