Some very interesting legal news in today’s Reputation Management, Internet Privacy, and Social Media Quick Hits. Could an Italian court decision swing the way Internet companies think about privacy and cyberbullying? Check it out below.

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Three Google Executives Convicted of Privacy Violations in Italian Court

According to an AP article, an Italian court has convicted three Google executives of privacy violations Wednesday “because they did not act quickly enough to remove an online video that showed sadistic teen bullies pummeling and mocking an autistic boy.” The Google executives are “astonished” by the decision, which is the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

In the United States, section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 generally protects websites and Internet service providers from criminal liability for content posted online. Because there is no such law in Europe, however, this decision could establish a very significant precedent if it is not overturned by another court.

Google Faces Antitrust Complaints in Europe

In addition to Google’s stunning conviction in Italian criminal court, the company is facing problems elsewhere in Europe. According to this article from PC World, three Internet companies have filed complaints with the European Commission alleging Google’s anti-competitive behavior. Antitrust complaints and criminal convictions in one week? Bad luck for Google.

Yahoo Rolls Twitter Into Search Updates

Yahoo has joined Bing and Google by incorporating Twitter updates into its primary search experience. As explained in this article from PC World, however, Yahoo’s late arrival doesn’t mean that the company’s Twitter integration could be any less successful than Google or its primary search partner Bing. In fact, because using social data in search is such a new concept, nobody has quite figured out the best way to do it yet. Perhaps if Yahoo and Bing puzzle out the best way to combine their powers, they could take even more market share from Google.

Can You Go One Week Without Google?

One CNET reporter attempted to do the impossible: Go one whole week without using Google products. Did he experience a virtual death? Did his work and personal life come crashing all around him? As it turns out, Tom Krazit did perfectly well without using Google. After making a few adjustments, he simply carried on with his routine. So take note Google haters, it is possible to live a Google-free life after all.

Australian Government Calls on Facebook for Explanation Over Cyber Harassment

The Australian Government has called on Facebook to remove disturbing images and messages that were left on memorial pages to two school-aged murder victims. According to reports, the sites were hijacked maliciously, allowing cyberbullies to leave pornography and other hurtful content the page. While Facebook has taken action the remove the content in question, the Australian government wants answers from company executives on why there was a breakdown in the site’s security and what allowed hijackers to take control of the memorial pages.

Last week, we talked about the humorous and eye-opening website, Please Rob Me. The site, which compiled a list of public status updates from individuals using Foursquare and other location-based social networking websites, brought attention to a very real, yet often overlooked problem: If you’re telling people where you are, you’re also telling them where you aren’t. In other words, every time you share your location, you are letting potential criminals know that you aren’t home and that, if they wanted to rob you, now might be the time to do it.

What is interesting about Please Rob Me is the reaction the site received from many active social media users. While acknowledging that safety on Foursquare is a legitimate concern, many felt that the value of using social media tools outweighed the risk of exposing their home as empty. I wonder what they would say if their social networking forced them to pay higher insurance premiums.

In a recent article for the Telegraph, Darren Black, the head of home insurance for the UK-based insurance website Confused.com, wonders if insurers might not consider an individual’s social media use as part of their risk analysis sometime in the near future.

Quoting from the article:

“I wouldn’t be surprised if, as social media grow in popularity and more location-based applications come to fore, insurance providers consider these in their pricing of an individual’s risk. We could see rises of up to 10pc for people who use these sites.

Criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their information gathering, even using Google Earth and Streetview to plan their burglaries with military precision. Insurance providers are starting to take this into account when they are assessing claims and we may in future see insurers declining claims if they believe the customer was negligent.”

What do you think? From an insurer’s perspective, it actually sounds somewhat reasonable. If you were to leave your door unlocked or leave a spare key hidden under the mat and someone robbed your house, you may have a tough time filing a claim with your insurance company. Could sharing the fact that you won’t be home amount to the same thing?

As our lives become more and more driven by social networking, it is important that we take time to consider some of the practical ramifications of our actions on the web. Being in control of your online reputation means being in control of how you use the Internet. If you’re responsible, you can make social media into a powerful personal branding tool for yourself and your business. If you’re not careful, however, you could wind up facing a whole array of problems that could leave your reputation hurting.

Today, we talk about Twitter’s growth, Google Buzz’s backtracking, and Facebook’s love/hate relationship with Zynga. Check it out!

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Twitter Hits New Milestone: 50 Million Tweets Per Day

In January, Twitter users posted as many as 50 million tweets per day. This is the highest number of updates on the service yet, and it represents a significant increase from the same time last year when the site was only registering approximately 2.5 million tweets per day.

There are some problems with the statistics, however, including the fact that Twitter didn’t incorporate spam accounts into the research, which seem to be increasing everyday and flooding the site with meaningless updates. Additionally, despite its rapid growth, Twitter still hasn’t done much in the way of forming a meaningful revenue model.

How to Say Sorry to Friends When You Fall for a Phishing Attack

If you’ve been the victim of a phishing attack on a social networking site, the biggest feeling you get isn’t anger, but embarrassment. You probably ask yourself, “How did I fall for that?” This embarrassment becomes particularly acute if your Twitter or Facebook faux pas then led to your friends and family getting stung by a phishing attack as well.

In a post for MSNBC, Suzanne Choney talks about her own experience falling for the popular “LOL – is this you?” Twitter phishing attack and walks other victims through the delicate process of apologizing to their friends online.

Talking About Zynga with Founder Mark Pincus

Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and other web-based games from Zynga have become an integral part of the Facebook experience for millions of users worldwide. In this CNN article, Doug Gross talks to the Founder of Zynga, Mark Pincus, about his company’s grwoth, its early legal problems, and the increasing resistance from non-players over automated messaging from the games clogging up their Facebook feeds.

Early Google Buzz Users Given Chance to Reconfirm Followers

Per their promise, Google is now allowing Google Buzz users to reconfirm who they do and do not want to follow, essentially taking users back to step one. Google’s initial plan of automatically connecting users with their most frequent followers was met with wide frustration from users and prompted the company to apologize and make several early changes to the product.

Should You Share Pictures of Your Kids Online?

For parents, it is a natural desire to post pictures of your children online so that your family and friends can see them as they grow up. However, there are also drawbacks to sharing photos of your children that some parents don’t consider. As with anything you post online, you have to be careful that you have control over what you’re sharing. This article offers some advice for parents who want to share pictures of their kids online safely.

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University of Oregon receiver Jamere Holland made headline news over the weekend when he took to his Facebook page to protest the alleged dismissal of his teammate Kiko Alonso, who is facing punishment for driving under the influence. As it turns out, Alonso was not actually dismissed from the team, but that piece of information never made it to Holland, who unwisely decided to take out his frustration with Oregon coach Chip Kelly online. By the time Holland’s curse-filled diatribe reached the mainstream media, the troubled receiver’s fate was sealed and he has since been removed from the University of Oregon football team.

There are few things that anger a coach more than a player openly criticizing his decisions. When the player makes his criticisms known on a Facebook profile for the whole world to see, however? Well, that’s just rubbing salt in the wound. In this case, however, Holland wasn’t even accurate in his criticism. Instead of seeking out the truth through a phone call or a meeting, Holland made a rash decision based on a faulty assumption. Now, he is suffering because of it.

The immediacy and intimacy of social media technology makes it very tempting for individuals to pour their anger out online. It is very important to learn to resist these urges and really take the time to think about what you’re sharing online. Would you still complain about your job if you knew that your boss or co-workers could see what you wrote?

While Jamere Holland’s playing days at the University of Oregon are over, perhaps he, and we, can take something positive away from his experience. No matter what kind of privacy settings you have in place, you should always assume that the content you share online will be read by someone other than its intended audience. Try your best not to say anything that you’ll regret later.

Should you Accept a Facebook Request from a Co-Worker?

It goes without saying that you should be careful who you accept as a friend on Facebook, but sometimes making the distinction between friend and acquaintance online is not as easy as it is in the real world. In this article from Reuters, Richard Baum discusses the etiquette of declining a Facebook request from a work colleague.

Honor Student Suspended for Facebook Page Insulting Teacher

An Illinois student was suspended for five days after setting up a Facebook page that was critical of one of his teachers. Now, the boy’s mother is considering possible legal action as she wonders whether or not the school has the authority to punish a student for behavior that occurred off-campus in the student’s own home. As demonstrated in this case, as well as a number of other high-profile stories, it is becoming increasingly difficult for schools to distinguish what does and does not constitute punishable behavior when it comes to the Internet.

Are You the Real You Online?

According to a recent research study, social media users on websites like Facebook and MySpace are more likely to reveal their true personalities rather than a false or idealized version of themselves. This conclusion defies the popular understanding that Internet users can use a social networking site to “be somebody else.” The study, which can be found in its entirety here, is somewhat limited in its scope in that it only examined 236 profiles from students aged 17-22. As such, it’s unclear whether the same conclusions can be drawn for Facebook’s rapidly increasing older userbase.

Phishing Attack Continues to Plague Twitter

Despite warnings to users, a widespread phishing attack is still making the rounds on Twitter. The scam, which comes via a direct message, says “Lol. this you?” and then offers a phishing link. Clicking the link will take you to a phony Twitter log-in page. If you receive this message, do not click on the link and report the account you received it from as spam.

Analysts Discover Possible Link To Chinese Government in Google Hack

According to the Financial Times, analysts are close to linking a recent Chinese-borne cyber attack on Google to the Chinese government. From the article: “[The] contractors have traced the spyware code to Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational School. The first one has ties to the military. The schools have denied involvement.” Even if a definitive link were made to the Chinese government regarding the Google attack, you can bet the Chinese government would deny it. Nevertheless, any new piece of information will have an important bearing on Google’s still pending decision to be a part of the Chinese marketplace.