Google Brazil Pressured to Give Up Names

Kordau writes "Google Brazil is under pressure to release user info from Orkut, relating to a child porn investigation by the Brazilian government. Google Brazil maintains that the info officials want is held on US servers and if they want the info, they should talk to Google USA."

Comments

Article full of errors.

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

There is a much better reuters article here - I suggest you read that rather than the linked article.

The first four paragraphs of the article contain the story (not too much there) - the rest is fluff - and inaccurate fluff at that - I'm going to go completely OT to look at some of the absurdities it contains:

The Brazilian case highlights an issue that has been brewing for sometime over the information that search engine and other internet companies keep on their databases about their users.

No, it doesn't highlight that - the cases are not similar in any form, other than both involving large internet companies

The recent blunder made by AOL in which the internet company erroneously published 20 million search requests....

Erroneously? AOL deliberately published the search requests.

Early this year, Google successfully defended a subpoena from the US Department of Justice to hand over its data in another child porn investigation case.

Calling that a "Child porn investigation case" is one of the most misleading statements I've ever heard. It was a "porn on the 'net fishing expedition."

Re:Do you have _any_ evidence of that?

[ThiagoHP]

For those playing at home: we just learned why Google is hesitant to build data centers in countries that have weaker protection for freedomes than does the US.

In Brazil we don't have a president that does illegal wiretaps and even admits that publicly nor companies disclosing personal information about without permission nor Guantanamo, so I feel my freedoms are better respected here than in the USA. ;)

Re:I Remember Orkut

[RLiegh]

Who cares? That's about like my whining about "how it feels" to be a non-japanese speaker on 2ch. Your question would be a lot more poignant if you were talking about english speakers invading non-english forums.

Re:I don't understand...

[BalanceOfJudgement]

...why they would have a problem releasing that information even from the US. I'd hate to be the American company protecting child pornography. Could be very bad for the image. Not to mention the stock price.

What you've just done is invoke the "think of the children" free pass to the US Constitution (and every other political system in the world based on individual freedom, of which there are several dozen).

This is exactly the tactic used by so many in power to get their foot in the door of eliminating privacy: Choose an issue that causes anyone who disagrees to look like a criminal, and get people to voluntarily give up their freedoms and privacy. Now that you have a precedent set for getting access to that information, you can do it for basically any reason - and abuse of power is just a step away.

I don't trust anyone enough to give them that kind of power in the first place.

There's a saying, and I will paraphrase because I don't remember the exact words..

"I would rather one guilty man remain free than compromise the freedoms of a thousand."

See, that's what so few people understand - the price of freedom is eternal vigilance (Thomas Jefferson). What this means is that freedom is actually an incredibly difficult social system to maintain, and still retain justice and order. But it is that struggle, that effort, that makes the ends so worthwhile - it is the very definition of honor and integrity.

And that is why so many people find freedom so frustrating [read: people we elect to leadership]... they know they don't deserve it.

Apology To Crime?

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

As it is based on the concept "Communities" (similar to groups on yahoo groups), a lot of groups with dubious/illegal subjects popped up, groups endorsing racism, neo-nazi propaganda, child abuse and other illegal activities, crimes were planned and the results posted and commented in some of thoses threads ......
Orkut has became a place where crime (or apology to crime, as it is also illegal in Brasil) has became a major problem and police and the justice system are having to deal with it adequatedly.

Pedophiles and racists are chatting online. Read my lips. Big Fucking Deal. In a free society, people should be entitled both to their views, and to discuss those views with like minded individuals. The majority of society happens to find these views highly offensive. Tough Shit. Liberty isn't as selective as most mobs. I refuse to sacrafice society on the altar of public outrage because a few sickos are typing objectionable content. "Apology to crime". What kind of a fucking country is Brazil anyway!?

To those who would cry; "Oh but these groups are inherantly evil and morally wrong!", let me tell you something about "inherant" evil and morality. There are countries in the world where clitorectomies are not only considered legal, but morally correct. In fact, a grown woman with a clitoris is considered inherantly immoral. You might scoff at the notions of "primitive" societies, but let it first be noted that the US has highest circumcision rate in the developed world. You'll find plenty of people with "inherantly's" on both sides of that debate.

Morals change. Oh boy do they change. Racism, pedophilia, facism were once not only legal, but moral as well. They were regarded as virtues in many societies at one point in time or another. You want the sad truth. Morals change with the tides. I'll trust in what's legal long before I trust in what's "moral".

Left to the media and the mob, our society would embrace old status quos just as quickly as it would condenm them. Right now the media is making money from outrage against child porn. Give it a few decades and they'll be calling for "tweenage" weddings to be legalised, or for segregation to be reestablished. Will you want to listen to them then? Do you think the legligatures and companies should be so quick to kow-tow?

So fuck moral outrage. It's like a fashion fad. Google knows this. They respect peoples rights, even if they abhor their actions. And so should everyone. If you don't like it, then move to a totalitarian state. Or Brazil, where my above "apology to crime" is in fact illegal.