June 1, 2014 -- Updated 0809 GMT (1609 HKT)
Google and Yahoo appear in a Buenos Aires court over accusations
searches on their websites link the name and photos of a popular
Argentine model to sex websites. FULL STORY
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MODEL: I AM NOT PROSTITUTE
Argentina model fights Google, Yahoo over photo links to porn sites
May 30, 2014 -- Updated 2321 GMT (0721 HKT)
Model to Google: I am not a prostitute
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Search engines appealing verdict awarded to Argentina model
- She says her name, photos used to bring people to sex sites
- Companies claim they cannot control third parties
- They say model should have brought specific examples
María Belén Rodríguez is suing the search engines, alleging they linked her name with terms like "sex" and "pornography."
Rodríguez told CNN her
pictures would be wrongly used mainly in two ways: An unauthorized
picture could be used to lure Internet users to an X-rated site, taking
advantage of her popularity in Argentina, or within adult websites that
contain pornographic images of other people.
Rodríguez, 30, originally
sued Google and Yahoo in 2006. After an eight-year legal battle, the
case has worked its way up to Argentina's Supreme Court.
In 2010, the model was
awarded a combined judgment against both search engines of 120,000
Argentine pesos, almost $15,000. The search engines appealed and a
higher court later lowered the amount to about $6,200.
Earlier this week, Rodríguez told CNN the use of her image by sexually-oriented websites has deeply damaged her reputation.
"They have ruined my life
and now say that what I'm asking for is censorship. It suits them, but
not me. Truthfully for me, having to explain every day that I'm not a
prostitute is a daily complication, as simple as that," Rodríguez said.
At the court hearing
Thursday, attorneys for Google and Yahoo suggested search engines are
neutral platforms that don't create or regulate content on the Internet,
and therefore, are not responsible for how the model's image is used by
third parties.
Alberto Bueres, an attorney representing Yahoo, said what the plaintiff is asking goes beyond the search engines' capabilities.
"It is technically and
economically impossible to before-the-fact monitor millions of pages of
content available on the Internet because of their volume and because
they constantly change. To argue against this is to favor
before-the-fact censorship and to ignore the economic realities," Bueres
said.
María Baudino, Google's
legal affairs manager for Latin America, suggested the entire lawsuit
could have been averted had the plaintiff contacted the search engines
directly to complain about specific websites that used her image
illegally.
That information,
Baudino said, would've allowed Google to act by either blocking the
pages or unlinking results related to modeling pictures belonging to
Rodríguez.
"In this particular
case, there was a consistent and prolonged refusal to identify the
content in question," Baudino said. "It's necessary to identify the
content by providing URLs in every single case for the simple reason
that if they're not identified, neither Google nor anybody else is able
to determine what we're talking about."
But Raúl Castex, an
attorney representing Rodríguez, said search engines have more power to
block content than they were willing to admit in court.
"Search engines can
find, with their own, diligently designed techniques, websites linked to
child pornography they normally block," Castex said.
He questioned why the search engines can conform with censorship rules in China but cannot protect his client's reputation.
Google attorneys said
they index web pages based on more than 200 criteria. Google's
transparency report posted online says so far this year the search
engine has received more than 100 million requests to block pages that
violate copyright laws or are deemed illegal or harmful in other ways.
Rodríguez, who's also an
actress and a TV host, is a married mother of two children ages 1 and
3. She's a native of Córdoba, Argentina. Rodríguez is often mistaken by
the media for another model from Argentina by the same name who works in
Italy.
Rodríguez says the case
goes beyond her reputation and honor. She describes her legal battle as a
modern David and Goliath fight.
"Let me be clear, first
of all, that I want to clear my image," Rodríguez said. "Second, I want a
precedent to be set so that this doesn't happen again. I'm in favor of
freedom of expression, but not the kind of freedom of expression that is
built on lies. I'm an ant fighting against a giant monster."
A ruling by the high court is expected in several weeks.
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