Japanese Court Orders Google To Remove Customer Reviews From Its Maps Service -- Globally
from the long-arm-of-the-law dept
The following story from Japan, reported by Techcrunch, might seem to be an everyday internet tale of privacy and freedom of speech interacting badly:
The Chiba District Court today issued a preliminary injunction forcing the U.S. internet company to remove two anonymous reviews for an undisclosed medical clinic in the country. While they document negative customer experiences at the clinic, neither review violates the policies that Google has in place for user generated content within the Maps service.
Nothing special there, you might think, but there's a sting in the tail:
The court ruled that Google not only removes the content in Japan, but across the entire globe too.
That's troubling, because it's yet another case of a local court asserting its right to affect what happens across the entire internet -- the best-known example being the EU's claim that its privacy regulations have to apply globally if they are to be effective. It's worrying to see a similar ruling from Japan, albeit only in a preliminary injunction, and one that Google is appealing against, because it risks normalizing that view, with serious consequences for the online world. Far from being a domain subject to no rules, as politicians love to claim, the internet would begin to turn into the one place that has to obey every country's laws.
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Filed Under: customer reviews, google maps, internet, japan, jurisdiction
Companies: google
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Response to: Anonymous Coward on Apr 24th, 2015 @ 9:18am
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Re:
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What happens when...
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Re: Re: What happens when...
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Then follows China. Demanding that all references of the Tiananmen Square massacre must be removed from Google. Globally.
Isn't global censorship fun? Weeeee!
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The reasoning is they all worship the same God, they just have disagreements about who the Messiah is and what name God prefers.
Shinto on the other hand, is anathema in Islamic countries since it involves worship of deities other than Allah.
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Right!
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Re: Right!
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Sometimes it really IS conspiracy, not stupidity
We should not shy away from the possibility that this is the endgame of these decisions and from taking immediate action to prevent it. The Internet is the best hope we have for a truly global future, and we cannot allow this hope to be dashed by the malicious designs of a few who wish to keep the world locked in perpetual nation-state conflict.
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Re: Sometimes it really IS conspiracy, not stupidity
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Re: Sometimes it really IS conspiracy, not stupidity
Age of consent, age allowance for nude modeling, and prostitution come to mind, but I'm sure there are other examples of one country's law(s) differing from another.
And don't get me started on Sharia Law.
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Re: Re: Sometimes it really IS conspiracy, not stupidity
Showing breasts isn't considered obscene or illegal in Japan, but showing a penis or vagina is. I wonder how Japanese people would react if every image in Japan that showed breasts suddenly sported a censor bar when viewed via a Google search -- would they accept an explanation that showing breasts is illegal in other countries so Google has to censor globally?
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Akihabara's Gundum Cafe
Asking for those specific reviews to be removed due to local jurisdictional issues isn't anything new. Hell look at Google's transparency report on Thailand: link, A country well known for removal of criticism about royalty or the government.
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Wars have been fought over lesser breaches of national sovereignty than a court issuing orders to be applied inside of foreign countries.
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Local laws, global Internet
Something has to give. Either the Internet will fragment itself so each piece is under a well-defined jurisdiction, or law itself will become global.
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Re: Local laws, global Internet
Why the Internet itself does a good job of self policing. Major crime aided by the Internet are prosecuted, so why should people with thin skins, an exaggerated sense of entitlement, or those trying to keep a failing business going, dictate what can happen on the Internet?
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Re: Local laws, global Internet
How about determining jurisdiction according to where the content is hosted?
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Re: Re: Local laws, global Internet
A few years ago, I would have said that since this is an easy and common-sense solution, it would never happen. However, in this age of "the cloud", it's no longer so easy to know where the content is hosted.
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Re: Re: Re: Local laws, global Internet
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Just change a few words for each case
Just change a few words.
China's censorship has to apply globally if it is to be effective.
Some state's kindergarden reading room policies of decency have to apply globally if it is to be effective.
Some other state's anti-gambling laws have to apply globally if it is to be effective.
Should someone say: this will break the internet?
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TPP
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Court, or law?
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Google.jp
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Possible Response
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On the red courtesy phone
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corporate sovereignty used for good?
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Another country passes the exact opposite of the first country's law, and it too rules that it must be enforced globally.
Watch as the two opposing courts destroy themselves in a puff of logic.
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WTF?
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