Milan is synonymous with the glitz and glamour of beautiful models and high-end fashion, but a court case in the historic Italian city has many in the technology world more than a little concerned.
Prosecutors there have brought charges against a number of Google executives over the 2006 publishing of a video that showed the bullying of a disabled teenager in Turin.
Of course the four defendants - David Drummond, Peter Fleischer, George Reyes and Arvind Desikan - didn't post the video themselves, nor have any prior knowledge of the upload.
Read more Tech Talk blogs But the authorities decided to take action as they believed it was a breach of the victim's privacy.
So, what does it all mean? Is this fair? Whilst Google is catching up with Microsoft as the world dominating company we can't live without but love to hate, surely these four guys shouldn't be facing a jail sentence just for sitting around collecting big pay cheques at the top of the tree.
Now don't get me wrong, posting this type of video (and lots of others) doesn't show an unsullied heart - but really isn't it the act that's more sickening than the posting of it?
I think it's great that someone posted it so the authorities were able to track down the perps and arrest them.
Anyway, where does it end.
Should you arrest a car manufacturer because some idiot decided to drive the car into a crowd of teenagers at a party?
Or a cricket bat manufacturer when the local hooligan uses it to crack someone's skull?
What about in this case, the maker of the video / phone that the incident was filmed on - surely they too have some responsibility?
What do you think? Post a comment below.
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