COLLEEN BARRY
Associated Press Writer
MILAN – Three Google executives were convicted of privacy violations Wednesday in Italy because bullies posted a video online of an autistic boy being abused – a case closely watched 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.
Google called the decision “astonishing” and said it would appeal.