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Irish Judge Orders 'The Internet' To Delete Video

New submitter edanto writes "A young Irish man wrongly accused of jumping from a taxi without paying the fare has secured a judgement from an Irish court ordering the video removed from the entire Internet. Experts from Google, Youtube, Facebook, and others must tell the court in two weeks if this is technically possible. The thing is, the video is accurate, it is only a comment that wrongly identified Eoin McKeogh as the fare-jumper in the video that is inaccurate. It's not clear if the judge has made any orders about the comment."

29 of 243 comments (clear)

  1. Overstepping your jurisdiction much? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Stupid judge, you can't order that, you ignorant ninny...

    By the powers vested in me, by myself, I hereby order you (the ninny) to stop breathing now and forever. You may be using oxygen I'll need later in my life.
    It's only wasted on you.

    1. Re:Overstepping your jurisdiction much? by Intrepid+imaginaut · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Google and them do a lot of business through Ireland, it might not be so easy for them to just ignore an order from an Irish judge.

    2. Re:Overstepping your jurisdiction much? by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Google threatening to relocate its business to a friendlier European state is probably enough to make Irish politicians crap themselves and change the law to suit Google.

      Except Google uses Ireland as a tax haven, so first they'd need to find another jurisdiction in which it would be beneficial for them. And I'm not sure they'll easily find one.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    3. Re:Overstepping your jurisdiction much? by OakDragon · · Score: 4, Funny

      ... Ireland has a crappy enough job market as it is, without punishing the companies who are there for something like this...

      Clearly - people can't even afford to pay their taxi fares.

    4. Re:Overstepping your jurisdiction much? by hairyfeet · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Google like many others were using Ireland as a tax dodge and as we have seen in the USA what happens when you put the corps in the driver seat now Ireland has a collapsing economy and companies like Google are slowly but surely bailing like rats from a sinking ship.

      This is of course the reason why free trade and globalism will cause a worldwide economic collapse, it forces every country on the planet to be as weak and powerless as the most broken third world country because thanks to the ability to send a trillion dollars around the world in seconds there really is no loyalty to ones home anymore.

      Our founding fathers saw this coming all those years ago, too bad we didn't listen. Thomas Jefferson: "Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains."

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    5. Re:Overstepping your jurisdiction much? by Jahta · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Stupid judge, you can't order that, you ignorant ninny...

      Sadly this is not that uncommon. In the UK last year there was a spate of so-called "super injunctions" being issued to various celebs; these were meant to not only prohibit publishing details of the subject under injunction but also any reporting of the mere fact that an injunction had been granted.

      At one stage the High Court granted a permanent injunction against the "whole world" to prevent details of a married celebrity’s affair from being revealed (Super injunctions and the law). Much hilarity ensued.

    6. Re:Overstepping your jurisdiction much? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 5, Funny

      I also don't plan on ever traveling to Internet Explorer.

    7. Re:Overstepping your jurisdiction much? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Easy.
      The Netherlands.
      Biggest tax-haven of Europe, at least if you are big corporation.
      If you are a normal citizen or a small company the Dutch tax department will suck you dry.

    8. Re:Overstepping your jurisdiction much? by jd2112 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Perhaps they could search for one on Bing?

      --
      Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
    9. Re:Overstepping your jurisdiction much? by St.Creed · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Thomas Jefferson was wrong, in this case, as several economists argued later. Merchants without a country tend to fare really bad when the merchants that do have ties with the rulers (or are directly in control of) another country make laws banning the first group from doing business in the country of the second group. If the first group of homeless merchants don't have strong ties with rulers somewhere they're up shit creek without a paddle.

      While multinationals often have their "head office" in a tax haven for tax reasons, the *real* headquarters is always located in a spot close to political power, where the owners of said company have cultural, personal and financial ties with the people having political power.

      --
      Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
    10. Re:Overstepping your jurisdiction much? by cusco · · Score: 3

      Er, no. The Internet actually belongs to a bunch of companies that very few people have ever heard of, like Alter.net, Level13, Akamai and the like, who own the backbone that all your data flows through. It's a nice fantasy, though.

      --
      "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
  2. Quick! by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you've got a Microsoft Surface, download the video from YouTube - pronto!

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:Quick! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you've got a Microsoft Surface, download the video from YouTube - pronto!

      only one man is our last hope then

    2. Re:Quick! by RoboRay · · Score: 4, Funny

      (sound of crickets)

  3. Cue the Streisand effect in ..... by i_want_you_to_throw_ · · Score: 3, Insightful

    3...2...1...

    1. Re:Cue the Streisand effect in ..... by Intrepid+imaginaut · · Score: 5, Informative

      Also a testament to the stupidity of mob justice. Before it emerged that this guy had been wrongly identified, you had people posting his home address on busily trafficked sites, his phone number, metaphorically throwing nooses over lamp posts, the works. Afterwards, the same people were still trying to pin something on him somehow because he had the temerity to make them look like trigger happy vigilante clowns without a clue, which is what they are.

      I don't blame him for trying to strike back through the legal system but since the video doesn't in fact identify him I'm not sure why he wants it pulled down. Renamed maybe might be a better option.

    2. Re:Cue the Streisand effect in ..... by Jawnn · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But why? It's not like it's some celebrity using the judicial system as a bully. And there's not really any amusing or interesting content to the video. Is it just cause we don't like judicial orders here?

      True, but there's no denying that that video will be viewed a few more times than it would have been before the poor lad went to court to bitch about it. What he should have done is fire back on Facebook, Twitter, and various other social media. You know where all the people who care about useless shit like this will see it and know he's innocent.

    3. Re:Cue the Streisand effect in ..... by ZombieBraintrust · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Except he is innocent. So the Streisand effect is a good thing for him if it gets the word out that it wasn't him in the video.

    4. Re:Cue the Streisand effect in ..... by ultranova · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Internet vigilantism has only started to make an impact but will get tragically big real quick, it needs to get nipped in the bud asap.

      Internet vigilantism can't be nipped as long as "tough on crime" remains popular, since it's the same thing in different guise: people like letting their sadistic impulses out every now and then, and if they can pretend they're doing it for the sake of justice it's all the more enjoyable.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

  4. Good luck with that... by jwthompson2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    At least the court has asked it it's even technically feasible; good luck with that.

    --
    Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. -Martin Luther
  5. Eoin McKeugh just became immortal. . . . by Salgak1 · · Score: 3, Funny
    . . . . .by GUARANTEEING that the video in question will be mirrored, and parodied, etc.

    Somebody obviously knows NOTHING about how the 'net works.. . This is, after all. . . . serious business..

  6. With no power comes no responsiblity by Anita+Coney · · Score: 4, Informative

    By the power invested by my lion tamer hat, I order unicorns to stop farting rainbows.

    --
    If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
  7. A different perspective by Sarten-X · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sure, the obvious spin the summary evokes is that the judge is one of those numbskull government bureaucrats, who thinks the Internet has a central authority that can respond to such requests. Let's all laugh at the silly judge and reinforce our anti-government hivemind.

    On the other hand, the judge likely ordered that the video be taken down, knowing perfectly well that it's impossible to be removed completely. However, those big companies make up the majority of the video's audience, so if they take down the video (and its associated accusation of Mr. McKeogh), the effect is to substantially reduce the harm to Mr. McKeogh's reputation... which is exactly the goal. Since the ruling is in Ireland, where those companies keep their double-Irish tax avoidance entities, the companies will of course want to stay in the good grace of the Irish courts.

    --
    You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    1. Re:A different perspective by almitydave · · Score: 4, Informative

      Except that even if it's completely removed once, it will resurface widely and immediately. If reducing the harm to Mr. McKeogh's reputation is the priority, they should leave all known copies up, but add a note that the person is NOT Mr. McKeogh, possibly with a link to this case.

      I'm sure the judge is not a numbskull, but the whole problem is not the video, but the misinformation accompanying the video.

      --
      my, your, his/her/its, our, your, their
      I'm, you're, he's/she's/it's, we're, you're, they're
  8. By commenting I can delete videos? Cool! by Aristos+Mazer · · Score: 4, Informative

    So, if there's some video I don't like on the Internet, I just go there and add a comment saying that it is this Irish dude doing whatever it is that is in the video? I can think of lots of embarrassing videos that various celebrities would like to see go away. Just add "Hey! That's Eoin McKeogh!" to the video and then sue in Ireland.

    This is just one of many problems I see with this ruling. It just was the most interesting one.

  9. It's a complicated thing, but by fisted · · Score: 4, Funny

    technically it's not that difficult. There are engineers who know which screws to remove, where the hooks and claws sit, etc, in order to disassemble the Internet and pull out that video. It's a matter of cost, mainly, and while it is a daunting task already to dismantle the machine, it's even more difficult to properly put it back together in the end.
    I wouldn't be the one to risk that, tbh. What if you, say, forget a gear, or mismatch the pressure release valve?

  10. Re:I... um. Ok. by almitydave · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Taking a stand against ridiculous court orders. Civil disobedience to promote awareness and justice. Defiance of an illegitimate order from a lawful authority.

    Basically, to point out the futility of what is frankly an idiotic order. The experts ought to tell the judge that once it's on the internet, it's there for all time.

    --
    my, your, his/her/its, our, your, their
    I'm, you're, he's/she's/it's, we're, you're, they're
  11. And The Answer Is: by ewhac · · Score: 4, Funny

    Experts from Google, Youtube, Facebook, and others must tell the court in two weeks if this is technically possible.

    No.

    This has been another edition of Simple Answers to Simple Questions: Simpleton Edition.

    Schwab

  12. Re:clueless judge by Shimbo · · Score: 5, Funny

    There should be an authority that can prevent Slashdot from being trolled by a summary that seems to have no basis in the original story. We could call this hypothetical super-being an editor.