Google Settlement Could Avoid Costly Legal Precedent
Google has avoided a potentially costly legal precedent by settling out of court with a former Morgan Stanley banker in an online abuse case due to be heard in Britain’s High Court Nov. 24.
Daniel Hegglin was seeking an injunction to force Google to block all traces in its search results of online abuse against him, following a defamatory anonymous campaign of abuse.
But Google instead settled with Hegglin before the case started. His lawyer said the settlement “includes significant efforts on Google’s part to remove the abusive material” from search results and Google-hosted websites.
David Cook, cybercrime specialist at law firm Slater & Gordon, said if the court had ruled in Hegglin’s favour it would have set a costly precedent for the company and “opened a floodgate” of claims in much the same way as the so-called “right to be forgotten” ruling has done, reported The Register.
