Googlers are gobsmacked that an Italian court found three company executives guilty of violating Italy's privacy laws over a video uploaded to Google Video. After all, the company quickly removed the video, of an autistic student being bullied, in 2006.

And none of the executives "appear in... film... upload... or review" the clip in question, says Google; in fact none are even based in Italy. The company called the Italian ruling "stunning" and "a serious threat to the web in Italy.... Common sense dictates that only the person who films and uploads a video" should be held responsible for a privacy violation. In other words, when you want something removed from the internet, you should send your attack dogs after the person who actually made it. And Google executives don't just preach that principle, they live by it.

(Pic: The judge in the Google case, Oscar Magi, in a 2009 AP file photo.)