As we reported yesterday, four Google, Inc. executives have been charged criminally with violating Italian law based on privacy violations. Their trial began today in Milan, Italy, but none of the defendants was present in court. 

One of the lawyers at the hearing claimed that the hearing lasted about five minutes. The trial was supposed to be a groundbreaking test of EU Internet law. It was postponed for two weeks. The Google defendants each could face a maximum three-year prison term. 

They are David Drummond, Google’s Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Peter Fleischer, Global Privacy Counsel, George Reyes, former C.F.O., and Arvind Desikan, previous head of Google Video Europe. The defendants are jointly accused of defamation and failure to exercise control over personal data, which is based on Google’s airing of a cell phone video that showed a boy in Turin, Italy with Down Syndrome being taunted by several of his classmates.

The video was posted over 2 ½ years ago on YouTube and was removed from the site after a complaint was lodged about the video. Google claims that it has sympathy for the victim of the taunting and the reason it allowed the posting of the video was so that the persecutors of the victim would be caught, which they were.

A lawyer representing a charity for people with Down Syndrome indicated that public opinion is in Google’s favor. Guido Camera, the attorney for the organization who brought the claim, said, "The absence of legislation in this sector makes this an important test case…. My clients are seeking an important clarification of the legal issues. The verdict will clarify whether Italy's 2003 privacy law must be respected by someone who distributes images in Italy but has his servers in the United States. It will say whether the law was applicable and whether it has been respected."

The Judge postponed the trial until February 18th. Depending on how the Judge rules on the arguments in the case, the trial could conclude that same day. Or, it could drag on for a long time.