Google says a guilty verdict could make it difficult for YouTube to continue operating in the country, because it might impose editorial liability; currently YouTube disavows such responsibility, relying on users to flag potentially inappropriate content.
Mr. Fleischer said Google feared that a guilty verdict in the Italian case might embolden politicians to try to broaden Web 2.0 companies' editorial liability — a change that is economically unviable, he added, given that 20 hours of video is uploaded onto YouTube every minute.
In his column (Editorial Pages, June 10), "Craze for Liability Lawsuits Is Expensive, and We All Pay," Ernest Conine bemoans the increase in liability insurance premiums and points his finger at the judicial system as the cause.
NEW YORK TIMES Standing Up to Banks | As they work with the federal government to settle allegations that the nation's big banks illegally foreclosed on homeowners, state attorneys general, some of whom have raised questions about the adequacy of the investigation, should refuse to offer the banks a broad release from liability, The New York Times editorial board writes.
Inveighing against his "complacency, insensitivity... arrogance... and incompetence", an Independent editorial thundered: "Mr Rumsfeld is a liability to the standing of the Pentagon... the reputation of the US abroad and to... US troops in the field.
The bills you describe in "Workers' Safety and the Gun Lobby" (editorial, March 30) protect property owners and employers from liability, while giving employees a means for self-defense while in their employer's public-access parking lot.
However, if the service provider either creates the content or provides editorial commentary on the content, that activity may provide a basis for liability.
Accordingly, the publishers, the editor and editorial board, GlaxoSmithKline, and their respective employees, officers and agents accept no liability whatsoever for the consequences of such inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement.
Moreover, the editorial said, "a married clergy presents its own distinctive problems and liabilities," including the high divorce rate.
The American Medical Association appreciates that your Oct. 7 editorial "Not Their Job" acknowledged the need for tort reform and the current medical liability system's role in driving up health costs for patients.
C4 Business Digest C1 EDITORIAL A18-19 Editorials: Patriot Act, Part II; bringing the U.N. into the 21st century; illegal guns and liability; the tyranny of Robert Mugabe.
