It's been a while since we've heard from Max Mosley, the former FIA head whose sex habits (read: punishment-themed orgies) became public news. Surprisingly, there are people out there who keep Googling said photos and Mosley has successfully convinced a French judge to force the search engine to yank all the photos.
The images come from a story published by the News Of The World expose on Mosley, which turned out to be sort of a setup. The newspaper also claimed the orgy was Nazi-themed (Mosley, the son of British fascists whose wedding was attended by Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, has denied this). Mosley successfully sued the paper, which later folded, and went on to try and use his case to restrict press freedoms in Europe.
Despite all this, the photos persist on the web.
I'm not really sure what kind of person would actively seek out photos of a 73-year-old British guy barking orders at prostitutes in German until they whip him bloody, but I'm not gonna judge. That much.
Get 'em while you can though. A French court has ordered Google to to find some way to remove recurring links to those photos, The Guardian reports. Their decision is a landmark ruling that has already been criticized by opponents of Internet censorship. Here's what the newspaper says:
The decision is a setback to Google as it tries to defend a global stance that the search engine is merely a platform that delivers links to content and it should not be responsible for policing them.
Although Google can delete images on its website, it cannot prevent others reposting them, resulting in a constant game of catch-up.
In a statement, Google said the court's request would require it to build a new software filter to continuously catch new versions of the posted images and remove them.
"This is a troubling ruling with serious consequences for free expression and we will appeal it," said Google's associate general counsel Daphne Keller in a statement.
Who knew this crazy orgy would lead to a landmark Internet privacy case? It could be an orgy that echoes throughout history.