Google Execs Convicted in Italy

In a stunning decision Wednesday, an Italian judge convicted three Google executives of violating Italy’s privacy laws. The charges followed a YouTube video from September 2006 that depicted four high-school boys in Turin, Italy, taunting a mentally disabled boy. The video has been offline since November, when Google, which owns YouTube, responded to two complaints, including one from the Italian Interior Ministry, by removing it within 24 hours. Though found guilty, the three execs won't be doing hard time because their six-month sentence was suspended. But Google, meanwhile, has reacted angrily. The company’s vice president and deputy general counsel for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, said in a blog post that the ruling represented an attack on Internet freedom.