I love Italy - for vacations, that is.  But the decision by a judge in Milan to convict several Google employees for the posting of a bullying video on Youtube is a serious threat to the potential of the Internet to be a force for freedom.  I have been critical of Google many times on this blog, but agree wholeheartedly with their assessment of how troubling this is:

European Union law was drafted specifically to give hosting providers a safe harbor from liability so long as they remove illegal content once they are notified of its existence. (…) If that principle is swept aside and sites like Blogger, YouTube and indeed every social network and any community bulletin board, are held responsible for vetting every single piece of content that is uploaded to them — every piece of text, every photo, every file, every video — then the Web as we know it will cease to exist, and many of the economic, social, political and technological benefits it brings could disappear.

This principle is also currently under attack from the oddly-named and secretively negotiated Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).  A recently leaked draft chapter is showing that ACTA appears to be shaping up as “DMCA plus."  While ACTA provides for safe harbor provisions it appears to significantly increase the requirements on ISPs and other service providers to qualify for the safe harbors.  Given the secret ACTA process (it is not even clear whether the leaked chapter is the real deal), it is not only virtually impossible to know where this will wind up, but most citizens won’t know about it or be able to express their views until it is potentially too late.

At USV, we believe in the transformative nature of the Internet.  As a technology optimist, I am convinced it will ultimately enable broad improvement in society.  But the existing (power) structures won’t give in without a fight.  Keeping the Internet a decentralized network (of networks) and maintaining the independence and neutrality of individual layers will be essential.