Tech giant Google has been ordered to pay $40,000 in damages to
an Australian lawyer after the Supreme Court of Victoria found the
internet giant had enabled its search engine to publish defamatory
content about him.
The case centred around articles and images published by
Victorian newspaper 'The Age' in 2004, after the lawyer, Mr
George Defteros, was charged with conspiracy over the murder of
Carl Williams and other underworld figures.
At the time, Mr Defteros ran a law firm in Melbourne whose
clients included organised criminals.
The charges against him were dropped the following year, but Mr
Defteros had by then already surrendered his practising
certificate.
The claim
