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Google has won a landmark legal case over online comments appearing in its search results, which could set a precedent for e-defamation.
Following the end of a case brought by Metropolitan International Schools (MIS) - a distance learning firm now known as SkillsTrain and/or Train2Game - at the end of last week a High Court judge said that Google was not legally responsible for online comments it might display.
MIS had complained that comments made in a forum about its services had appeared in Google search results and claimed that as 'publisher' the firm should be held liable.
However, in a particularly lengthy summary the judge Mr Justice Eady ruled, "The third defendant (Google) is not, and could not be, in a position to check the truth or accuracy of the vast amount of information crawled over by its automated search engine. It is said to be inconsistent with the nature of a gateway to the internet, such as this defendant, that it should be held liable for what is found on the other side."
Further disassociating the firm from any responsibility Eady added, "When a search is carried out by a web user via the Google search engine it is clear, from what I have said already about its function, that there is no human input from the third defendant. None of its officers or employees takes any part in the search. It is performed automatically in accordance with computer programmes." So in essence it's 'publish and be damned' as opposed to 'spider and be damned' - or something like that.
We just hope that this doesn't impact on any of our Celine Dion flavoured blog posts. We would hate to face her in a court room.
Or indeed anywhere.
22 Jul 2009
