YouTube appears to be having a streak of good luck – first we learned that a ban in Thailand had been lifted, and now Google’s video-sharing site has won a court case in Brazil (this case had also, as it so happens, resulted in a block).
It all started when a Brazilian model was taped having sex on a public beach. The video, which was not explicit, made its way onto YouTube, and Daniella Cicarelli (the model in question) sued YouTube (as did her boyfriend).
As murdok reported at the time, a judge ordered that YouTube be blocked throughout Brazil. The ruling was soon reversed, however, and now – over six months later – the supermodel has been ordered to pay a good deal of money to Globo and iG (other companies she was suing), as well as to YouTube.
Ars Technica’s Jacqui Cheng carries the rest of the story; as she writes, the judge’s ruling “focused mostly on Cicarelli’s ‘good faith’ – or lack thereof – in pushing the privacy case when her actions took place in public.”
Cheng then continues, “In the Portuguese-language ruling seen by Ars Technica, Teodoro said that the couple made the claim in bad faith and tried to argue that coverage of their public sexual affair should somehow be treated as an invasion of their privacy. The judge ordered them to pay all court and lawyer costs, as well as R$10,000 (roughly US$5,000) to each of the defendants.”
If YouTube can stay on this roll – which seems unlikely – it might not be long before Viacom drops its lawsuit.
