Brian {Hamilton Kelly} writes:

Nevertheless, they ARE the publishers of the libel ...

No. They are publishers if they control content. If they do not
control content, they are more like common carriers. The telephone
company is not responsible for crimes committed with its lines. Google
should not be responsible for libels carried out with its
servers--unless it is editing content, which apparently it is not.

... and under the laws of
the country in which action is being brought, are liable once they have
been placed on notice of the defamation if they fail to remove it.

The defamation has to be proved, which means a court decision, generally
speaking. A simple accusation of defamation means nothing (and in fact
it may be a defamation in itself).

Moreover, by failing to reject posts made through well-known open
proxies, they are continuing to provide an easy path for libels to be
published through them.

Here again, Google is not under any specific obligation to reject posts
made through "well-known" open proxies (whatever "well-known" means).

--
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