Google In Italy: Lessons from Tobago

[Commentary] A look at Google's legal trouble in Italy.

Two horribly disturbing features of this Italian misadventure stick in Epstein's craw. First, the episode shows how principles of strict criminal responsibility for the acts of others continues to gain traction around the world. That specter of liability gives governments, including totalitarian regimes, an opening to bully companies around the world with threats of criminal liability that could result in jail time for top officers and huge fines for the corporation.

Second, this incident brings us back to those pesky courts in Tobago. Anything that gets uploaded onto YouTube can be accessed around the world. Fortunately, most nations, most of the time, have sensible policies on privacy that makes a repetition of the Italian fiasco unlikely. But what good is protection in 99 jurisdictions around the globe if Google officials could be hustled off to jail in even one nation? It would be a travesty of justice to let the misguided criminal policies of an over-enthusiastic nation dictate the type of content that is posted world-wide. Punish the actual perpetrators in their home state, and the public interests in protecting privacy are satisfied.

[Richard A. Epstein is the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of law, The University of Chicago; the Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution; and a visiting professor at New York University Law School.]