In Germany, Offensive Autocomplete Is No Laughing Matter 200
itwbennett writes "We've all had a chuckle over Google's autocomplete results for various search queries. But one German businessman had a less funny experience when he searched for his name on Google.de: The autocomplete suggested search terms where his name was tied with 'Scientology' and 'fraud' (in German, of course). This was back in 2010. In 2012, a German court ruled that the autocomplete terms did not infringe the plaintiff's privacy. Now, a year later, the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe has overturned that ruling and ordered that Google remove offensive search suggestions when notified."
Re:In Germany, Who Determines "Offensive"? (Score:4, Interesting)
Standards are pretty low. Calling an airline pilot a "bus driver", calling a store a "fraud" in a review (even if you obviously don't mean it literally), flipping someone off, or using someone's first name if you haven't been introduced are all criminal offenses with prison sentences of up to 1-2 years. True statements can also be criminal offenses.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beleidigung_(Deutschland) [wikipedia.org]
Flipping someone off behind the wheel generally costs upward of $4000 in penalties, a milder gesture around $1000. Just about anything negative you say to a policeman will get you charged and convicted in Germany.
Re:Good to know (Score:4, Interesting)
Stupid Foreign Courts (Score:1, Interesting)