Re: Google's Brazil chief detained in YouTube case

[Jeffrey Walton <noloader () gmail com>]

Hi Michael,

On Thu, Sep 27, 2012 at 11:34 AM, Blanchard, Michael (InfoSec)
<michael.blanchard () emc com> wrote:
> Here in the US we have a nice little document called the Constitution, perhaps you've heard of it?
We're not talking about the US here. Google entered the Latin American
market, and wants to do business there. Google has to play by their
rules.

> If those countries don't like what Youtube on it, they are free to block youtube within their country....  How they 
> do it is entirely THEIR problem to figure out...
Hmmm.. Google is the root of the problem - it is hosting illegal
content on its platform (relative to Brazil, of course). Why would one
look elsewhere for a solution?

> Oh, and whom exactly is "... the economic terrorist on Wall Street who wrecked the US and world econmies in 2008..." 
> anyway?????
Surely you did not miss it. A great documentary is "Inside Job" by
Charles Ferguson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Job_(film)).

The problem was much worse than the "oops, the economy took a down
turn." The investment banks knew what they were doing. They got
Congress to pass legislation to allow it to happen (the Citigroup
Relief Act). Some of the executives who were responsible for the mess
(and interviewed) tried to play the "babe in the woods." It was
hilarious (or angering) watching Ferguson call bullshit on their
answers and produce documents showing otherwise.

Also, Alan Greenspan was part of the problem. In another documentary
(I don't recall which), the producers show Greenspan's testimony
before Congress. He admitted that the US and the Fed "got it wrong"
when it came to derivatives and deregulation (or lack of regulation
and oversight). One Greenspan's henchman was Larry Summers (also
responsible for policy and part of the cause of the mess). Guess what
he is doing now? Running Harvard. Academia will be producing more of
these assholes for us to suffer.

So here you have it. The economic terrorist include, but not limited
to, the executives who ran the investment banks which caused the
problem, a number of Fed and Government policy makers (such as
Greenspan, Summers, and Geithner), and Congress (which took the bribes
and passed the Citigroup Relief Act).

I don't differentiate between "good terrorists" (such as above) and
"bad terrorist" (such as Bin Laden). The funny thing is, Bin Laden
called for a boycott of the US dollar to hurt the US economy. The
economic terrorists on Wall Street did his bidding by decimating the
US and world economies.

> that reads much harsher than I meant it to read....  My intent is to have a friendly discussion
No problem. I have thick skin.

Sorry about the politics here. Unfortunately, politics play a role in
almost everything, including the safety and well being of my country,
my democracy, and its citizens. I have no tolerance for those who
damage the things that matter most.

Jeff

> -----Original Message-----
> From: funsec-bounces () linuxbox org [mailto:funsec-bounces () linuxbox org] On Behalf Of Jeffrey Walton
> Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2012 1:05 AM
> To: FunSec List
> Subject: [funsec] Google's Brazil chief detained in YouTube case
>
> Its about time that executives be held responsible for their company's
> actions. I doubt it will ever happen in the US since companies are
> free to bribe politicians (err, make PAC contributions). Perfect case
> in point: not one criminal prosecution against the economic terrorist
> on Wall Street who wrecked the US and world econmies in 2008.
>
> http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57521048/googles-brazil-chief-detained-in-youtube-case/
>
> RIO DE JANEIRO - Google Inc.'s head of operations in Brazil was
> detained by the country's federal police Wednesday after the company
> failed to heed a judge's order to take down YouTube videos that the
> court ruled violate Brazilian electoral law.
>
> The detention came as another court ordered YouTube to remove clips of
> an anti-Islam film that has been blamed for deadly protests by Muslims
> around the globe, both joining a spate of court-ordered
> content-removal cases against Google's video-sharing website in
> Brazil.
>
> The arrest of Google executive Fabio Jose Silva Coelho was announced
> in Sao Paulo. A press release issued by the federal police said he was
> not expected to remain in jail and should be released later in the day
> after signing a document promising to appear in court.
>
> Brazil's strict electoral laws limit what critics can say on
> television, radio and the Internet about candidates for office. Ahead
> of municipal elections next month, Google has received repeated
> requests to remove Web videos that allegedly violate those
> restrictions.
>
> A judge in Mato Grosso do Sul state ordered Coelho's arrest Tuesday
> because the company had not removed YouTube videos that make
> incendiary comments about an alleged paternity suit aimed at Alcides
> Bernal, who is running for mayor of the city of Campo Grande. That
> ruling also included a statewide, 24-hour suspension of Google and
> YouTube. It was not immediately clear if and how that aspect of the
> ruling might be carried out.
>
> Google said Tuesday that it was appealing the decision. "Being a
> platform, Google is not responsible for the content posted on its
> site," the company said in an emailed statement from Sao Paulo.
>
> A judge in the southern state of Parana earlier ordered Google to pay
> $500,000 for each day that it balked at fulfilling an order to remove
> other videos criticizing a candidate. In the northeastern state of
> Paraiba, a judge ordered the imprisonment of another Google executive
> in Brazil, also for not removing videos from YouTube attacking a
> mayoral candidate, but that order was overruled by a higher court.
>
> Eva Galperin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which promotes
> digital freedom, said the rash of Brazilian cases was "disappointing,
> but not surprising" ahead of the country's nationwide municipal
> elections on Oct. 7 and Oct. 28.
>
> "The Internet is global, but laws are made nation by nation," she
> said. "There is a struggle between nation states and their laws and
> the freedom of expression policies of companies that host content all
> over the globe."
>
> In a separate case pending against Google, Sao Paulo-based judge
> Gilson Delgado Miranda gave the site 10 days to remove video clips
> from "Innocence of Muslims," which has angered many Muslims around the
> world by its depiction of the Prophet Mohammed and his followers as
> thugs. After the 10-day window, Google will face fines of $5,000 a day
> for every day the clips remain accessible in Brazil, according to the
> statement on the court's website.
>
> The company did not respond to requests Wednesday for comment about the case.
>
> The "Innocence of Muslims" ruling resulted from a lawsuit by a group
> representing Brazil's Muslim community, the National Union of Islamic
> Entities, which claimed the film violates the country's constitutional
> guarantee of religious freedom for all faiths.
>
> In a statement on the group's website, Mohamad al Bukai, the head of
> religious matters for the Sao Paulo-based organization, hailed the
> ruling.
>
> "Freedom of expression must not be confused with giving
> disproportionate and irresponsible offense, which can provoke serious
> consequences for society," al Bukai said.
>
> Dozens of people have been killed in violence linked to protests over
> "Innocence of Muslims," which portrays the Prophet Muhammad as a
> fraud, a womanizer and a child molester.
>
> Attempts by courts and officials in several countries to remove the
> clips have revived the debate over freedom of expression.
>
> The judge in the Brazilian case acknowledged that banning content from
> sites like YouTube is a thorny issue, according to excerpts of the
> ruling cited in the National Union of Islamic Entities' statement.
>
> "This type of jurisprudence cannot be confused with censorship,"
> Miranda is quoted as writing. In the excerpts, the judge defines
> censorship as "the undue restriction of the civic consciousness."
>
> YouTube routinely blocks video in specific countries if it violates
> laws there. It also removes video deemed to infringe copyrights, show
> pornography, contain hate speech or violate other guidelines. However,
> none of those restrictions had been applied in Brazil to the
> "Innocence of Muslims."
>
> Google is now selectively blocking the video clips in countries that
> include Libya and Egypt. Google has said it made the decision to block
> the video in such places due to "the sensitive situations" there.
>
> Galperin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation questioned whether a
> ban was really necessary in Brazil, which has seen no protests or
> rioting that have swept the Muslim world in recent weeks.
>
> "The notion that there's a need to take it down to prevent violence is
> ludicrous," she said.
>
> Miranda's ruling came on the same day that Brazilian President Dilma
> Rousseff addressed the United Nations and urged an end to prejudice
> against Muslims.
>
> Google has said it has been so inundated by requests from governments
> worldwide to remove online content that it has begun releasing a
> summary of the demands, most relating to legitimate attempts to
> enforce laws on issues ranging from personal privacy to hate speech.
>
> But Google, which has been locked in a high-profile battle with
> China's leaders over online censorship in the communist nation since
> 2010, says it increasingly fields requests from government agencies
> trying to use their power to suppress political opinions and other
> material they don't like.
>
> Brazilian government agencies alone submitted a total of 194
> content-removal requests during the final half of last year, according
> to a summary released by Google in June. Running just behind that was
> the United States, where police, prosecutors, courts and other
> government agencies submitted 187 requests to remove content over the
> same period.
>
> Brazil and other parts of Latin America are crucial to Google's growth
> strategy. Company executives have said that Latin America is the
> country's fastest-growing market.
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