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"A couple weeks ago, we noted Google's stalwart defiance of Brazilian law enforcement, as they endeavored to protect child pornographers using the Google-owned social network Orkut as a primary distribution point for their garbage. As we noted then, it's usually pretty difficult to discern what Google's general policy is on turning over user records, and it's baffling why they'd choose now to start protecting their users instead of the many other times when actual important or constructive free speech was being engaged in, and they caved in to governmental pressures for censorship or disclosure:\n\nAccording to the Inquirer, Google's Brazilian chief Alexandre Hohagen told the Brazilian senate that they're going to make 'greator efforts' to attempt to curb child pornography and racial incitement on their social network Orkut, but would not in any event turn over to officials personal information of their users.\nI would think it's a pretty cut and dry situation - with child porn, there is very little room for gray.\u00A0 If there are traders and producers of child pornography, do your best to root it out.\u00A0 This isn't as if it's a form of civil disobedience or something - child pornographers aren't members of the Boston Tea Party.\u00A0 It's fairly cut and dried.\u00A0 If you know you have accurate information on a child pornographer in your system, you should turn it over to authorities.\nIn other words, there's a time and place to fight over the privacy of your users, but to do so over child pornography isn't the battle you should pick.\n\nI can't help but indulge myself into thinking that Google's paying very close attention to my opinions, as word comes from the Associated Press this morning that Google Brazil has done an about face on their policy regarding turning over these pedophiliacs to the government, having handed over information on more than 3,261 of its users to a Brazilian Senate panel investigating the matter. The AP tried to get comment from Google, Google's Brazilian Communications Director Felix Ximenes, and the Google Legal department, but was shut down at every turn regarding the matter.\nFinally, though, I feel confident in saying that Google has walked the fine and flexible line of free-speech protection while maintaining a reasonable non evil-doing stance regarding criminal behavior on its systems with its decision.\u00A0 It appears that they're still protecting the identities of those involved with racial hate speech against Jews and homosexuals - which is how it should be. It isn't that I'm for these types of behavior, but protecting pedophiles is protecting criminal behavior, while protecting racists engaged in objectionable speech is simply protecting freedom of speech."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2008/04/23/orkut-pedophilia-2/>