An Italian court has convicted three current and former Google executives of privacy violations stemming from a 2006 incident involving students at an Italian high school who uploaded a video of they made while bullying a schoolmate with Down syndrome.  You can read more on that story on NPR or at the New York Times.

In essence, the charge alleges privacy violations by Google in connection with the posting of the video.  Google says it took down the video within two hours of being notified by police and that it cannot be held responsible to monitor all uploaded content by users given that approximately 20 hours of video alone are uploaded worldwide every minute.  The Italian court argued that while the video topped the “most entertaining videos” category with 5,500 hits and 800 user comments, Google should have noticed the video sooner.  Google further argued no one would file charges against the mail carrier for the content of letters delivered or against a telephone operator for what’s said during a telephone call.

So who’s to blame? . . . Continue Reading

If you haven’t already seen this beautiful and powerful public service announcement for seat belt safety, you’ll want to see it now.

Anna Staniszewski posted a link to a very funny commercial on her blog today.  I’ve copied her and done the same here.  Watch it first so the rest of this post will make sense.

. . . Continue Reading

Read this first to get caught up on the latest news, then come back here.

With regards to the Google Book Settlement what concerns me about any future negotiation which still allows for an “opt-out” clause is the precedent this will set for future uses of copyrighted material by entities other than Google. This would put the burden on the copyright holder to monitor the world stage for any and all possible declarations of intent to use their protected material in order for the copyright holder to ensure they have opted-out.
. . . Continue Reading