Rubens Barrichello wins libel suit against Google

Google was ordered by a Brazilian court to pay $500,000 to a famous Formula 1 racer for hosting fake online profiles of him on its social network Orkut.

Additionally, Google was ordered to pay a daily fine of $590 until all fake profile pages relating to the F1 pilot were removed from Orkut. According to Computer Weekly, Google says in its statement:

We would first like to clarify that this is only an initial judgement and we look forward to the reconsideration of this decision on appeal by the Court of Appeals. Mr Rubens Barrichello is a public figure, and as such is subject to both the positive and negative expression of public opinion. In this sense, Google reaffirms that we are not responsible for any injury to Mr Barrichello's public image and we believe that a better solution will be affirmed upon the definitive and final judgement of the case by the appellate courts.

Some other social media sites try to prevent people from assuming the identity of others. Twitter, for instance, provides a verification process meant to establish authenticity of individuals. Barrichello's profile on Twitter is verified. As the Washington Post reports, Rubens Barichello, who was looking for "respect rather than money," is going to donate the money to his charitable organization, Barichello Kanaan Foundation.