Well this is something you don’t hear everyday, reputed Formula 1 driver Rubens Barrichello has recently sued software giant Google due to its social networking website Orkut, which is extremely popular in South America, especially Barrichello’s native Brazil.
Given that he is a “bit” well known there, many fans have created fake profile pages which caused a fair amount of controversy, not to mention staining his popularity in South America. He immediately asked Google to delete the profile pages, but when the corporation declined, he went to court.
It now seems that the trial has taken place, and the judge issued Google to pay $500,000 in damages to the Brazilian driver. Don’t go thinking he will spend them on a new swimming pool or something like that, as he will donate it to his own charity, Instituto Barrichello Kanaan, which will help children.
Given the popularity of social networks all around the world, be it Facebook or something else, I think this should be warning to the companies which run them as to be more careful in deleting accounts, as to not pay a hefty price afterwards.
Source: AutoMoto365 via Automarket
