After months of litigation, a Brazilian court has ordered that video file sharing site YouTube be shut down until it removes a popular celebrity sex tape.
Brazilian model
Daniela Cicarelli, who was once married to soccer star Ronaldo, sued YouTube several months ago, demanding that the site take down a
video of her having sex in shallow water at a beach.
Cicarelli and her boyfriend Tato Malzoni, who appears in the tape with her, sued YouTube for $116,000 in damages each day that the tape appeared on the site. YouTube has removed the tape, but continued reposting by users prompted the couple to demand that the site itself be shut down until the issue can be resolved.
A Brazilian court agreed with the couple’s request this week, according to a legal clerk in the South American country. However, American legal experts doubt whether the couple will be able to enforce the court’s order against YouTube, which is based in the U.S.
“The Internet is democratic and has to be defended, but this struggle is to have some level of control to avoid the violations of people's fundamental rights, like privacy and intimacy,” said Rubens Decousseau Tilkian, a lawyer who represents the couple.
YouTube declined to comment on the court’s decision.
The case will now go to a three-member panel of judges, who will decide whether or not to make the order permanent and fine YouTube.
Google, which acquired YouTube in November, has had its own legal difficulties in Brazil. In September, Google appealed a Brazilian judge’s order to turn over user information from the company’s Orkut social networking site.
Orkut was accused facilitating user-generated hate speech and child pornography by Brazilian authorities.
Google has maintained that it is open to data requests from foreign governments, provided that they comply with U.S. law.