Top Google Lawyers Convicted in Italy for Bullying Video
Two of Google’s top lawyers and a former financial officer have been convicted in Italy for an online video showing youths bullying a schoolboy.
The executives were convicted of violating Italian privacy laws, according to the Associated Press and Times Online. They are David Drummond, Google’s senior vice president and chief legal officer; Peter Fleischer, its global privacy counsel; and George Reyes, its former chief financial officer.
The executives received suspended sentences of six months in prison, Times Online says. An appeal is planned.
Critics say the conviction threatens freedom of expression on the Internet.
AP says the bullied boy was autistic, while Times Online reports he had Down syndrome. Google removed the video after complaints from Vivi Down, an Italian group representing those with Down syndrome.
The video was posted for two months in 2006 on Google Video, an online video sharing service operated by Google before its acquisition of YouTube.
