Written by Iain Thomson, vnunet.com, 20 May 2008
An Indian man is facing five years in jail for making an "offensive" comment after Google handed his personal data to local police.
Rahul Krishnakumar Vaid, a 22 year-old IT consultant, was arrested after posting derogatory comments on Google's Orkut social networking site.
Vaid was posting in a forum called 'I hate Soniya Gandhi' and was identified after the police asked Google to hand over his email address.
Vaid was arrested after a police raid on his house on Friday and has been charged with breaking section 292 of the Indian Penal Code and section 67 of the Information Technology Act.
If found guilty he faces a possible five years in prison as well as a fine.
The case highlights a curious facet of Indian law. The creator of the forum cannot be punished, since an individual's dislike is covered under personal freedom of choice. However, the information Vaid posted is classed as "vulgar", thus the arrest.
Source: http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2217063/google-handing-user-information
Vaid's arrest also highlights Google's increasingly tarnished reputation, despite its unofficial motto of 'Do no evil'.
The motto gained the company much kudos in the IT industry but, after Google's activities in China, many are now questioning its stance on human rights.
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