Google Defends Itself in Italian Court MILAN - Attorneys for Google presented the company's defense in a trial of four executives here Wednesday, telling the court that the Internet giant was not responsible if objectionable videos were uploaded to its Web sites. Giuseppe Vaciago, a lawyer for Google, told the court that it also was not Google's responsibility to acquire the consent of people who appeared in the videos; that was the duty of those who uploaded the videos. Prosecutors contend that Google was negligent because it allowed a video of high school students bullying an autistic classmate to stay on its Italian-language video service for two months in 2006. The company, which is based in Mountain View, California, says it removed the video several hours after being alerted about its existence. Google's attorney disputed the prosecution's argument that Google was responsible if people who appeared in videos on its sites had not given their consent. How is it possible to even imagine that Google could get the consent of people who appear in videos put online? Mr. Vaciago said after the hearing, which was held behind closed doors. How could the company check if consent has been given? Whoever uploads the video has to ask for the consent of those in the video. This is a rule that applies to all video platforms on the Internet. The prosecutors rested their case last month after asking for a one-year sentence for three executives - David Drummond, senior vice president and chief legal officer; Peter Fleischer, global privacy counsel; and George Reyes, a former chief financial officer. Prosecutors are seeking a six-month sentence for Arvind Desikan, who is now head of consumer marketing for Google in Britain. If found guilty, the four defendants, none of whom have appeared in court since the trial began this year, would not serve time in jail because sentences of less than three years are commuted in Italy for those without a criminal record. Mr. Vaciago and another lawyer for Google will finish their arguments in front of the judge Dec. 23. The prosecutors will then have a chance to respond Jan. 27. If only a limited amount of new material is presented, a ruling could come that day or soon after. While Mr. Vaciago said he concentrated on addressing the question of the consent of those appearing in the videos, he said he would address the crux of the accusation at the next court appearance - that Google either knew the video was up and did nothing to take it down immediately or showed negligence even if it did not know. When presenting their case last month, the prosecutors submitted a 119-page document with evidence they said showed that Google must have known about the video long before it was taken down.