[ NNSquad ] Re: NYTimes on U.S. vs. Europe on Privacy and Google (and fragility)

[Stefano Quintarelli <stefano@quintarelli.it>]

Although I've been vocal towards regulation in italy
(http://is.gd/9poKg), in my view this specific outcome was foreseeble.
(as I discussed with Lauren months ago).

I suggest reading this: http://is.gd/9pp4j

Let me point out that
1.- we dont' know the motivations yet
2.- this decision can (and very likely will) have 2 levels of appeal
(and, BTW, the decision is 6 months in jail and according to italian
regulations for any conviction to less than 2 years one does not go to
jail, unless he's been convicted before)

ciao, s.

Richard Clayton wrote:
> In message <01db01cab8a8$febd5d40$fc3817c0$@frankston.com>, Bob
> Frankston <Bob19-0501@bobf.frankston.com> writes
> 
>>    The NYT story does point out how easily the privacy laws can be 
>>    abused and used cynically.
> 
> Which shows the limitations of the NYT story :(  since the actual
> decision related to Data Protection -- which the Italians quirkily refer
> to as their privacy law :( thereby misleading a lot of journalists.
> 
> It should be noted that Data Protection and privacy (either the EU type
> of privacy such as it is, or the US formulations), although related, are
> not the same thing at all.
> 
> In fact the charge that was brought was rather specifically Italian; for
> having infringed s167 of the Italian Data Protection Act by gaining
> profit (Adwords revenue) from non-authorized personal data handling.
> 
> This isn't the end of the story. There will doubtless be an appeal
> (and/or references to EU level courts) since it was expected that the
> "hosting" provisions of the eCommerce Directive would have overridden
> the earlier Data Protection provisions... although it may not be a
> matter of law per se, since the judge seems to have decided on the facts
> before him that Google wasn't acting an intermediary, but the actual
> content provider.
> 
> IANAL ... but I've been reading some informed Italian commentaries.

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