2 Comments

  • When the European Commission can’t clean up the outlier colonies like the United States and the island of criminals…

    Comedy gold

  • Two of the least appealing claimants of a European “right to be forgotten” include a German murderer suing Wikipedia
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Werl%C3%A9_and_Manfred_Lauber
    and a Spanish plastic surgeon who worries about a 20-year-old unfavorable newspaper article, suing Google but *not* the newspaper:
    http://searchengineland.com/google-confronting-spains-right-to-be-forgotten-67440

    As a compromise on Google, I suggest a “right-of-reply” link that would be displayed together with the link someone doesn’t like. On his right-of-reply page, for example, the Spanish plastic surgeon could point out that the newpaper article is 20 years old and that in more recent times he enjoys a excellent reputation. (Or he could dispute the accuracy of the article itself.) A single right-of-reply page would suffice for all the charges and links the author wishes to answer.

    I have more sympathy for a “right to be forgotten” in straightforward “invasion of privacy” cases, but share skepticism that it can be made workable.