• BBC News, Wednesday, June 24, 2009 3 PM

In Italy, four Google executives face allegations of defamation and violating privacy for allowing a video that showed a teenager with Down Syndrome being bullied onto Google Video. Prosecutors argue that the video was uploaded without the consent of all parties involved. In that case, they claim that Google should keep such content off the video-sharing site.

If the judge rules that videos posted to sites like YouTube need the permission of all involved, it will have huge ramifications for social media sites in Italy, says Nick Lockett, a partner with DL Legal. "If that becomes law, then social video will move into full broadcast rights," he said.

The video was posted on Google Video in 2006, just before Google acquired YouTube. It stayed on the site for several months before being removed due to user complaints. Incidentally, the four youths responsible for the bullying were expelled from their school in Turin and sentenced to community service.

Google's senior vice president and chief legal Officer David Drummond, former chief financial officer George Reyes, senior product marketing manager Arvind Desikan, and global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer face up to three years in prison if found guilty. In a statement, Google said: "We feel that bringing this case to court is totally wrong. It's akin to prosecuting mail service employees for hate speech letters sent in the post."

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