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News Google found guilty in libel case

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by julieb, 27 Sep 2010.

  1. julieb

    julieb What's a Dremel?

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  2. docodine

    docodine killed a guy once

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    Even if it's not Google's suggestion, the fact that on their page if you search that guy's name it comes up with such and such is a rapist is pretty libelous.
     
  3. capnPedro

    capnPedro Hacker. Maker. Engineer.

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    This is so dumb. It's as is people who get to make decisions on technological matters have no understanding of how they work. Oh. Hang on a second...

    I suppose now Bit-Tech will get sued for stating that this guy has links to the word "rape". Good thing he isn't named.
     
  4. eddtox

    eddtox Homo Interneticus

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    Libel laws need revising. Auto-complete based on common past searches cannot be libellous.
     
  5. tristanperry

    tristanperry Minimodder

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    That's pretty silly considering it's an automated system, and it's a valid search 'suggestion'

    I could understand if Google Suggest showed up really incorrect and offensive suggestions (didn't 4Chan recently manipulate Google Suggest so that searching for Justin Bieber would suggest 'Justin Bieber Syphilis'? In this case I could understand a lawsuit, but even then I think it'd be harsh)

    But yeah, this particular case is very silly.
     
  6. mi1ez

    mi1ez Modder

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    ^ They call it googlebombing.
     
  7. Pete J

    Pete J Employed scum

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    Well, he shouldn't have done that then, should he? Scum.
     
  8. Skiddywinks

    Skiddywinks Minimodder

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    Are you that thick? You missed out the "Although" at the beginning of your chosen quote, and missed out the ", the court decided in his favour" at the end of it.
     
  9. tristanperry

    tristanperry Minimodder

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    Ah yes, of course :)

    That rings a bell now - I remember they did the same to Paris Hilton. With Google suggesting she *is* a [adult filter] when people typed in *isn't* :D
     
  10. mi1ez

    mi1ez Modder

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    And there was the famous Weapons of Mass Destruction one too.
     
  11. faugusztin

    faugusztin I *am* the guy with two left hands

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    Court decided in his favor in case against Google, he was guilty of the criminal offense.
     
    Pete J likes this.
  12. Pete J

    Pete J Employed scum

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    Thank you.

    @Skiddywinks: He was found guilty of 'corruping a minor' prior to this case and served time for it. Hence, as Google says, his name is inevitably going to be linked to this case, isn't it? I don't see why Google should be held responsible for some disreputable w**ker's actions.
     
  13. Flibblebot

    Flibblebot Smile with me

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    Now, now. Play nice. ;)

    The court decided in his favour in terms of the Google case; he was still convicted and imprisoned for charges of corrupting a minor.

    I can see where he's coming from, though - without knowing about the case details, corrupting a minor doesn't necessarily mean rape (it could have been consensual, even though the other party was under-age).

    While it's naive to assume that Google had anything actively to do with an automatic search, it could modify the search suggestions to filter out any potentially slanderous phrases - so it's a difficult judgement to call.
     
  14. cjmUK

    cjmUK Old git.

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    Not in my country it is not.

    Google's suggestions are not google endorsing the pages returned by the search - they are an assertion that that the suggestions are representative of the most popular and accessible content that matches the search - which is a fact.

    In general, if a news outlets reports that X is accused of doing Y, they are not suggesting that X did do Y, merely that someone else is making that claim. Likewise, google is merely reporting the fact someone else is accusing this guy of being a rapist - which is true.

    I'm surprised that this cases succeeded, even in France - I'm fairly sure it wouldn't succeed anywhere else. The implications for other search engines and media outlets are tremendous.
     
  15. memeroot

    memeroot aged and experianced

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    because we all want fred west - a bit dodgy - to be filtered out
     
  16. cjmUK

    cjmUK Old git.

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    It couldn't.

    How would you decide which information is libellous or not? The very fact that they might start to filter some results would imply that they are deciding that non-filtered results must therefore be true and endorsed by Google - which leaves them wide open for other suits against them.

    Their position will remain the same - they returned the most popular results that match the search phrase but will not seek to credit the returned results with any kind of authority.
     
  17. mrbens

    mrbens What's a Dremel?

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    Google auto complete is funny. If you type in "Religion is" google suggests "********". and if you type "Google is" it says "watching you". :)

    I wonder how many other people or companies are going to try sue google now for things that people have searched for?
     
  18. DMU_Matt

    DMU_Matt mmmm cheesy

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    You're surprised that France did something that no other country would....? ;)
     
  19. eddtox

    eddtox Homo Interneticus

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    From what I hear UK's libel laws aren't great, either
     
  20. cjmUK

    cjmUK Old git.

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    I'm surprised that even France would come to such a judgement. Yes, the French often prefer to plough their own furrow, and they do have privacy laws that favour the individual, but even so, this case was unusual IMHO.

    However, it wouldn't be the biggest shock of my life to find out the case was contrived to p**s an American corporation off...*any* American corporation.
     
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