Obscenity italian style

Have we missed parts of this story or has an Italian judge gone completely off his rocker. The AP explains:

An Italian court convicted three Google executives of privacy violations Wednesday because they did not act quickly enough to pull down an video online that showed bullies abusing an autistic boy.

The case was being closely watched around the world due to its implications for Internet freedom.

In the first such criminal trial of its kind, Judge Oscar Magi sentenced the three to a six-month suspended sentence and absolved them of defamation charges. A fourth defendant, charged only with defamation, was acquitted.

This is no Ted Steven's stunt. Engadget had more:

Hold tight kids, internet privacy laws just got flipped upside down. An Italian judge found three Google executives guilty of violating the privacy of an Italian student who was bullied in a 2006 video posted on Google Video. The video resided on the site for two months before it was brought to Google's attention and pulled. None of the executives were involved in any way in the making of the abhorrent video. Nevertheless, Italian judge Oscar Magi sentenced the execs to a six-month prison sentence but cleared them of defamation charges. No jail time is expected, however, since any sentence of less than 3 years is typically commuted in Italy for those without a criminal record.

They then followed this up with a quote from Google's Blog:

European Union law was drafted specifically to give hosting providers a safe harbor from liability so long as they remove illegal content once they are notified of its existence. The belief, rightly in our opinion, was that a notice and take down regime of this kind would help creativity flourish and support free speech while protecting personal privacy. If that principle is swept aside and sites like Blogger, YouTube and indeed every social network and any community bulletin board, are held responsible for vetting every single piece of content that is uploaded to them - every piece of text, every photo, every file, every video - then the Web as we know it will cease to exist, and many of the economic, social, political and technological benefits it brings could disappear.

Wow. You'd think the judicial system over there was run by Fox News.

4 out of 5 believe the government is broken

More than 4 out of every 5 people believe the government is broken. CNN had the details:

Americans overwhelmingly believe that the government is broken, according to a national poll released Sunday.

But the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey also indicates that the public overwhelmingly holds out hope that what's broken can be fixed.

Eighty-six percent of people questioned say that the system of government is broken, with 14 percent saying no.

This doesn't shock me. What does surprise me is that 4 out of 5 people in that group think it can be fixed:

Of the 86 percent, 81 percent say that the government can be fixed, but 5 percent say it's beyond repair.

Maybe that's why people used to look at Obama as superman, ready to right all the world's wrongs. Oddly, millions of people tune into Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. Maybe it's not the government that's in trouble.

Stephen colbert's olympic poster

Stephen Colbert is no stranger to riding a media wave. He knows how to play to a crowd. This is no exception:

Last night, Stephen Colbert revealed The Colbert Report's official poster for the Vancouver Olympics, created by Shepard Fairey. Well, now it's time for you to take action and show your support by downloading the poster, printing it out and plastering it all over Vancouver.

Please be sure to observe all local laws and ordinances regarding the posting of bills. I repeat, do not murder anyone with this poster!

Can't make it to Vancouver? Well, you can still show your support for Stephen by changing your Facebook and Twitter icons to this scaled-down version of the poster and Tweeting the hashtag #SkateExpectations.

Of course there are others who know how to play to their crowd, but unlike Glenn Beck, Stephen doesn't have to resort to crying.

He's made it a long way since the Daily Show. If he keeps playing his cards like this he will make it even farther.

Top uniformed officer: gay ban should be lifted

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
A Few Gay Men & Women
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Wow! This is a big one, and of course Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert had to get in on this. The top uniformed officer says that the gay ban should be lifted.

The military's top uniformed officer declared Tuesday that gays should be allowed to serve openly in uniform, arguing that it is "the right thing to do."

Adm. Mike Mullen's statement was the strongest yet from the uniformed military on this volatile issue, although he stressed that he was "speaking for myself and myself only." He told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday he is deeply troubled by a policy that forces people to "lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens."

Mullen said he knows many will disagree about abandoning the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and said there are practical obstacles to lifting the 1993 ban. But he said he thinks the military can handle it. Mullen is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and chief military adviser to President Barack Obama.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the panel he is tapping his chief legal adviser and a four-star Army general to lead a landmark study on how the military would lift its ban on openly gay service members.

What can I add that the AP, Jon, and Stephen haven't covered?

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Be Almost All That You Can Be
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

Jon stewart on the o'rielly factor

The news is abuzz with Jon Stewart's appearance on Fox's O'Rielly Factor:

Comic Jon Stewart told Bill O'Reilly that the "no spin zone" ringleader had become the voice of sanity on Fox News Channel, although "that's like being the thinnest kid at fat camp."

The host of "The Daily Show" and Fox's kingpin exchanged some good-natured shots Wednesday during Stewart's appearance on a network he relishes mocking. Stewart tossed off jokes but also criticized Fox for being a "cyclonic perpetual motion machine" opposing President Barack Obama.

"They have taken reasonable concerns about this president and this economy and turned it into a full-fledged panic attack about the next coming of Chairman Mao," Stewart said.

E Online had more:

And since real politicians tend to avoid face-to-face exchanges whenever possible, we're pleased that Bill O'Reilly and Jon Stewart, two of most trusted men in political entertainment, were unafraid to sit down for a little one-on-one on The O'Reilly Factor.

In the first of a two-part interview, the Fox host and Comedy Central funnyman jabbed and parried, both keenly aware of falling into each other's rhetorical traps. Stewart mocked Glenn Beck and what he calls "the Fox narrative," while O'Reilly alternately praised and belittled Stewart and his audience of stoned, Obama-loving slackers. Plus, there was even a shout-out to the Shadow Government!

Good stuff. Fox, you never fail to entertain. Now where's the news.

Yes, corporations are people; cold, heartless people.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Supreme Corp
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

The Supreme Court recently ruled that corporations can not be limited on contributions to campaigns because (in a nutshell):

• Corporations are legally "persons" and


• Limiting money in this regard is akin to limiting free speech

Wow. Of course. Corporations are people and money is speech. It's all so clear once John Oliver and Jon Stewart provide some hilarious views on this topic.

Actually, I've understood the law sees corporations equal to persons since I created my own corporation a few years ago (Full disclosure: this blog is owned by that corporation). I can see the legal necessities of that, but I have to wonder why the law doesn't see people and corporations similarly, and not as 1 to 1 exact mirror copies of each other. Sotomayor herself has voiced her concern about this view.

But then this decision goes further and also, like decisions before it, equates money spent with free speech.

I'm not thrilled with the outcome of the decision, but that's not the issue. The issue I have is the journey that brought us there. If legally a company equals a person, and money equals speech, isn't there something obscene about our laws? Isn't it a bit disconcerting that those logical/legal jumps are nothing but a glossed over point on a legal decision?

In the end, the Supreme Court has just made a legal declaration that corporations will be the biggest, loudest, people there are. What's to stop them? They have billions of dollars in "free speech" and we the people need a megaphone just to compete with the volume they will bring to the table.