- A court in Italy has convicted three Google executives of charges that they violated Italian law by allowing a video showing an autistic teenager being bullied to be posted online. Judge Oscar Magi absolved the three executives of defamation but convicted them of privacy violations. The three employees, Peter Fleischer, David Drummond, and George De Los Reyes, received suspended six-month sentences. David Drummond, Chief Legal Officer at Google and one of those convicted, said he was “outraged”by the decision. The company has said that it plans to appeal the convictions.
- The FCC has commenced a new proceeding to deal with so-called “Robocalls,” or pre-recorded marketing calls. Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, CG Docket No. 02-278, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 10-18 (rel. Jan. 22, 2010). The proceeding will seek to harmonize the FCC’s rules implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act with the Federal Trade Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule. Comments will be due 60 days after the NPRM is published in the Federal Register. To view the item, please click http://www.fcc.gov/headlines.html. As of the time of this release, the NPRM has not been published.
