----- Forwarded message from Ed Jankiewicz <[email protected]> -----
Date: Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:13:00 -0400 From: Ed Jankiewicz <[email protected]> Subject: [ NNSquad ] Re: Google loses Italy "autocomplete defamation" case + my comments To: [email protected] expecting a wave of copy-cat suits In Poland, a Mr. Dupinski tires of being identified as "dupa". In Germany, a Mr. Schein does not find "Scheisskopf" funny at all. In England, a Ms. Whorley...well you get the idea... Ed "Not Janky" Jankiewicz On 4/5/2011 2:42 PM, Lauren Weinstein wrote: > Google loses Italy "autocomplete defamation" case + my comments > http://j.mp/fsvCiO (This posting on Google Buzz) > > - - - > > http://j.mp/hFIw3o (ZDNET UK) > > On Tuesday, lead counsel Carlo Piana wrote on his blog that the > Court of Milan has upheld its earlier decision to order Google > to filter out libellous search suggestions. These are the > suggestions that pop up in Google's search input bar, proposing > what the user might be wanting to search for. People searching > via Google for Piana's client, who remains publicly unnamed, > were apparently presented with autocomplete suggestions > including truffatore ("con man") and truffa ("fraud"). > > - - - > > Amongst the many Google-related emailed queries and comments I receive > every day, there has been a major up-tick of late in questions related > to autocomplete suggestions (and Google Instant). > > Many of these have focused on Google's removing (for example) various > "torrent"-related terms from the autocomplete lexicon, joining > other terms that were considered inappropriate for "suggestions" > display, which some senders (inappropriately I believe) equate > with censorship). > > Others -- like in this Italy case -- are concerned about items that > *do* appear in the suggestions (and, via Google Instant, in the > displayed "intermediate" results pages during the query entry > process). > > Since the autocomplete/suggestions mechanism can play an important > "discovery" role in the search process, potentially steering users > toward queries and results that they might not have otherwise made or > seen, this is overall a very complex topic. > > So to review, there are parties concerned about terms that are not > presented via autocomplete (presumably via manually maintained > exception lists) -- and there are parties who are upset about terms > that are appearing (normally via automated processes). > > I actually have in the works a fairly detailed analysis of issues > related to Google autocomplete/suggestions, that is not yet ready for > distribution. But I'll mention one key concern from that essay that I > know will be present in the final version. > > It appears increasingly likely that the evolution of Google's > suggestion/autocomplete mechanism, now in tandem with Google Instant, > may have inadvertently created a path for outside parties to > increasingly demand (via court actions, etc.) the ability to > micromanage Google's search results in various ways, particularly in > terms of removing results -- not just from autocomplete, but > potentially from the main results index as well. > > I have long asserted that many of the major battles over freedom of > information on the Net will involve attempts to interfere with search > engines' algorithmic autonomies. Parties unhappy with the > availability of particular material on the Net -- realizing that > stamping out all mirrors is increasingly impractical -- are now turning > toward search engines as a preferred avenue of attack, realizing that > if users can't *find* given material, that's almost as effective (from > a censorship standpoint) as if the material weren't available at all. > > Those forces who wish to tightly control and regulate information on the > Internet are rapidly pointing their cross-hairs at search engines in > general, and at Google in particular. > > There are associated enormous freedom of speech and other risks for > everyone involved. > > Much more to say about this later. > > --Lauren-- > Lauren Weinstein ([email protected]): http://www.vortex.com/lauren > Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org > Founder: > - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org > - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: > http://www.gctip.org > - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com > Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy > Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com > Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein > Google Buzz: http://j.mp/laurenbuzz > Quora: http://www.quora.com/Lauren-Weinstein > Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com ----- End forwarded message ----- _______________________________________________ pfir mailing list http://lists.pfir.org/mailman/listinfo/pfir
