Google, which has always striven towards a goal of "doing no evil" has recently been involved in successive lawsuits. Three of Google's executives were sentenced to 6 months in jail in Italy on February 24 for the criminal invasion of privacy.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has decided to launch anti-monopoly investigations into Google’s search engine and advertising search services. The reporter learned from Microsoft's official blog, that following Google's rapid expansion, an increasing number of small and large companies have begun filing lawsuits against Google. The lawsuits are related to every segment of the market that Google is involved in.
Some lawsuits reveal the tough stance taken by Google in relevant markets and some lawsuits reflect secrets behind Google's business operations. Other lawsuits are related to antitrust issues. What Google products have suffered from lawsuits? Why did these products merit lawsuits?
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How could lawsuit and criticism-distressed Google still boast of "doing no evil" |
"Offensive" product No. 1: Photos and videos
Groups offended: Parents and Internet regulators of various countries
Three Google executives in Italy were prosecuted after Google released a video on youtube.com, which is owned by Google, in which a disabled child was bullied – an autistic child was hit and insulted by 4 classmates on their school's campus. Google claimed in court that it just provided an Internet platform and assumes no obligation to check the content. Google has used similar excuses after being required to check pornography-related content in China.
It is worth noting that when Google claims its innocence, it is repeating the same tactic, hoping to turn a commercial criminal case into a political event. It has even urged U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to impose pressure on Italy. This tends to make people think of the "Google's possible exit from China" event that has yet to be settled.
Li Siyi, deputy director of the Institute of Journalism and Media under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said that every country around the world has an information censorship system, particularly the censorship of content relating to terrorism and child pornography. Google is skilled at using the media to protect itself, but all the countries will not compromise when it come to the cases involved with such content. Even the U.S., where Google is headquartered, does not permit the free transmission of certain information in light of security. Such information includes information on national security, territory integrity and religious harmony as well as ill information that may hurt children's physical and mental health.
Analysts believe that this is the first case that a video sharing service has been convicted by a court because of a video posted by users. The conviction by the Italian court has a far-reaching impact on the development of the Internet industry, because it not only will likely change the business model of mainstream video sharing websites, but may even also change the industry’s understanding of the Internet.