A decision of an Italian criminal court has sent shockwaves around the Internet. Four Google executives, including its global privacy legal counsel, have been given suspended prison sentences for user-generated material uploaded onto Google’s popular video-sharing service, YouTube. The video showed an autistic child being bullied. The European Union introduced the E-Commerce Directive – which has been brought into English law through the law commonly known as the E-Commerce Regulations – in order to protect intermediaries (such as Google who facilitate and oil the wheels of the Internet against liability) where they are innocent. In practice, this means that intermediaries would normally escape liability for user-generated content if they have not monitored that content but had a process of quick take-down upon becoming aware. Google has promised to appeal this decision and said that the ruling threatens to undermine the legal basis of essential Internet services.
Paul Gershlick, a Partner at Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP and editor of www.Upload-IT.com, comments: ‘Although this ruling is not binding on English courts, it is of great concern that any court anywhere in the European Union could have come to this decision. If not successfully appealed, it could change the Web 2.0 as we know it and make anyone more cautious if they are involved with acting as a mere host or intermediary of content supplied by other people. The fact that there is criminal liability is even more concerning – it’s one thing risking being sued; it’s another if people at a responsible business risk jail terms.’
