Can Google be held criminally responsible for video that the company hosts on behalf of others? According to PCWorld, those responsible for the operations involved in said video hosting incident can indeed be held accountable. The reaction to this, as reported by PCWorld, has been one of complete disgust. Not for the act of brutality against the autistic teenager in the video hosted by Google, rather the fact that the execs are being held responsible for the uploading and distribution of the video itself.

The article goes on to explore the repercussions of allowing this Italian ruling to stand, how it can affect people of authority who simply happen to be in the wrong position at their jobs, at the wrong time. One specific point that was made rang home with me personally. The idea is said to be the same as prosecuting postal workers because of hate mail that was sent through their office during their tenure. Clearly, the Italian judge in this case is in serious error.