Google Violates Privacy In Italy, Xerox is copied (what?), & More

Google Guilty Of Privacy Violations In Italy

Three Google employees have been convicted of breaking privacy laws in Italy after a video showing four boys bullying another child with Down’s syndrome was briefly posted online in 2006.

The Google executives, who received suspended six-month sentences, were accused of breaking privacy laws, as well as defamation (the latter being absolved).  Prosecution claimed “A company’s rights cannot prevail over a person’s dignity. This sentence sends a clear signal.”  They believe that responsibility for the uploaded content rests on Google as the video platform provider, as well as the four boys who were expelled from school.

Google said that a ruling against its top Italian executives attacks the “principles of freedom” of the Internet and poses a serious threat to the web.  They plan to appeal the convictions.

Yahoo And Google (allegedly) Copy Xerox Corp.

Xerox Corporation has alleged in a lawsuit that Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. have infringed on the document and services company’s patents for Internet search and e-commerce technology.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges that Google’s AdSense and AdWords software – programs that serve up ads based on web site content and users’ search requests – violates a Xerox patent on automatically generating queries.  It also claims Yahoo’s Y!Q Contextual Search, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Yahoo! Publisher Network infringe the same patent. Other services, such as Google Maps and YouTube, violate “integrating information and knowledge,” a patent the Xerox company has held for about nine years.

Xerox has asked to be paid for alleged past infringement by Google and Yahoo, and wants both companies to stop using that technology.  Both have denied the allegations and will defend the suit.

Intel Also Target Of Recent Cvber Attacks

Intel has released news that the company fell victim to sophisticated, China-based cyber attacks, around the same time that Google and Adobe were hit.

Company spokesmen didn’t know if the incidents were related, and claim that no evidence of a successful attack has been found.  “We have no knowledge of any lost [intellectual property] or damage to the systems.  We have not seen the kind of broad-based attack as was described with the Google situation.”

Since then, The New York Times has implicated two technical schools in China, one of which allegedly has strong ties to the Chinese military, as being the source of the attacks. Those schools denied playing any role in the attacks.

Some Extra Tidbits:

• Google & DoubleClick have unveiled their merging technologies which will improve metrics for ad planning, buying, and serving, as well as provide better traffic to sites.  The new platforms released are: DoubleClick Ad Planner (formerly Google Ad Planner) and DoubleClick for Publishers, or, DFP (formerly Google Ad Manager).
• Apparel brand Nine West has launched a shopping app on Facebook, which allows fans to browse the digital boutique and receive exclusive discounts on the spring collection.
• Yahoo and Twitter have reached a deal to share content with one another, with Yahoo offering users a connection to people and information, while Twitter believes that the more places there are to tweet, the better!

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Sources:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/190125/conviction_of_google_execs_in_italy_shear_madness.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704188104575083882041877088.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704188104575083513410076760.html
http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/news2/intel-also-target-of-cyber-attack.aspx