coachm - 2:18 am on Dec 1, 2012 (gmt 0)

The hard fact is that if legislators decide that the methods used by search engines produce libellous results then those methods will have to change. It doesn't matter a jot whether companies can easily afford them or not.

Exactly. The fact that something is "hard" doesn't exempt one from staying within the laws and not knowingly harming someone as a result of some illegal activity. Google and others like Facebook have made incredible amts. of money while remaining teflon unaccountable for the impact of questionable activities.

If I used a business model that violated laws, because it was the only way for me to be profitable, and someone sued me or had me charged, I don't think saying "well, golly, it's the only way to stay in business", almost everyone here would laugh at the argument, and cheer when I had to shut down or go legal.

That's accountability, and anything that increases that for the mega-user generated sites is good. let's keep in mind that a court decision about a Google, or Facebook doesn't mean the same decision will apply to you and I. It might, it might not, but the truth is that nobody is going to sue me for these kinds of things. No point.

It time for accountability. IMHO.