Google appeals Spain's demand to take down links

MADRID -- Lawyers for Google went to court Wednesday in Madrid to appeal demands by Spanish authorities that the company delete links to websites containing information officials say violates Spaniards' privacy rights.

Google says it's the first case of its kind -- and a Spanish decision mandating the deletion of the links could hurt freedom of expression.

Spain's Data Protection Agency said it filed the orders against Google at the request of individuals who lodged complaints and because the original publishers of the material cannot legally be ordered to take them down.

The agency has issued 90 orders for Google to take down links. The National Court on Wednesday heard arguments from both sides on the first five orders to be appealed.

The cases include a surgeon who was absolved of charges of criminal negligence in a 1991 case but who sees a Spanish newspaper reference to the original case -- and not the acquittal -- whenever his name is keyed into Google's search engine.

Another case involved a woman who was denied a local government grant years ago but reference to the case and data about her keeps appearing in searches using her name.

Google's chief argument is that it is just an intermediary and that the original publishers are responsible for the content.

Google fears that a ruling against by the court would effectively give the U.S. search engine giant publisher status and make it accountable for the

material it provides on the Internet.

"We are disappointed by the actions of the Spanish privacy regulator. Spanish and European law rightly hold the publisher of material responsible for its content," Peter Barron, Director of External Relations for Google, said prior to the hearing.

"Requiring intermediaries like search engines to censor material published by others would have a profound chilling effect on free expression without protecting people's privacy," he said.

The five cases involved information published in newspapers or official gazettes.

Jose Antonio Perales, a lawyer for the data protection agency, said each of the five individuals claimed their dignity and privacy were affected by the fact that references to past events involving them continued to appear in Internet searches.

"We face a violation of fundamental rights," said Gabriel Gomez, a lawyer acting on behalf of the surgeon. "The Internet can't be a refuge for insults, threats or offenses."

But lawyers for Google pointed out that the data agency had not called on any of the news providers to modify or remove their content. They argued there are Internet tools available so that newspapers could block search engines from indexing certain material.

They also pointed out that Google had blocked information when it was shown to be criminal, such as child pornography sites.

"All the sentences (in other countries) under which Google has de-indexed pages are sentences which declared the content illegal," said Google lawyer Javier Aparicio, arguing that the material concerned in the Spanish cases was not illegal.

A ruling by the National Court could take weeks, even months.

The case is the latest legal wrangle involving Google. Google's street mapping program has been dogged by privacy concerns in Europe since its launch, and authorities across the world have mounted probes into the tech company's practices.

There has been an ongoing debate over online privacy and the so-called "right to be forgotten." European Union officials have been looking for ways to allow citizens to delete information about themselves that they do not wish to appear on the Internet.

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Microsoft links up with ARM in new tablet drive

By Bill Rigby

LAS VEGAS | Thu Jan 6, 2011 1:10am EST

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is taking its biggest step away from a long-standing, lucrative alliance with Intel Corp, teaming up with Britain's ARM Holdings to take on Apple Inc in the red-hot tablet and smartphone arena.

Microsoft, the second-largest U.S. technology firm, plans to design a Windows operating system compatible with chips designed by ARM, an Intel rival and the dominant producer of chips for smartphones and tablet computers.

Chief Executive Steve Ballmer pitched the move in a typically ebullient opening address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, looking to convince investors that his company can hold its dominance in a world moving away from PC-centric computing.

"Whatever device you use, now or in the future, Windows will be there," said Ballmer, stalking the stage in a packed, supportive auditorium, in his trademark blue shirt and slacks. "Windows will be everywhere on every kind of device, without compromise."

Investors and analysts were not immediately convinced that the software giant can maintain the dominance of Windows as Apple's iPad leads the exploding tablet market and Google's Android smartphone systems take off.

"The PC is not going to be the 95 percent dominant solution five years from now," said IDC analyst Al Hilwa. "The trajectory of the iPad and all these Android devices is to take on multiple form factors."

The lack of a coherent strategy on tablets hobbled Microsoft's share price last year, and its shares continue to trade around the same level they did eight years ago.

"We've already seen that the personal computer has lost dominance as a computing platform," said Brendan Barnicle, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities. "Microsoft has to deal with the fact that Apple is making these really compelling devices."

Microsoft's move is the latest major win for ARM, which is making huge strides in mobile computing and on Wednesday also announced that graphics chipmaker Nvidia will begin designing central microprocessors for computers based on ARM architecture.

CORNERING THE MARKET

Microsoft's new approach marks a shift away from Intel, whose chips have held a hegemony on Windows operating systems on personal computers, and suggests the breakdown of the fabled "Wintel" alliance, which set the standard in early computing.

"It's highly symbolic, the Wintel duopoly that was such a good partnership for so long is fraying at the edges a little bit," said Todd Lowenstein, a portfolio manager at HighMark Capital Management.

The U.S. software maker offered no time frame for the launch of the ARM-supported operating system version, but Windows unit chief Steven Sinofsky said Microsoft typically aims for 24 to 36 months between major Windows versions, suggesting a launch date of between October 2011 and October 2012.

That means tablets capable of taking on Apple's iPad may be a year or more in coming, running the risk of leaving it too late to catch up with Apple's iPad, and betting that tablets will be an enduring new market.

"It's still early in the adoption phase for tablets," said Lowenstein. "Prices will be coming down, there is a mass market opening up even more, and both Intel and Microsoft have the capability to catch up. Microsoft has made a business model out of second-mover advantage, using its scale to crush opponents."