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Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 12:36 GMT 13:36 UK

Google could face Brazil lawsuit

Google website Google could face legal action in Brazil for failing to provide details of site users allegedly involved in pornography and crime.

Brazilian prosecutors say that Google's community website Orkut - popular in Brazil - contains information promoting crime and child pornography.

Federal prosecutors want a judge to order Google in Brazil to disclose users' information or be closed down.

They also want Google to pay $61m (£32.2m) as a fine for damages.

The prosecutors say this fine stems from Google's failure to obey former judicial orders.

By withholding information about Orkut users, Google is thwarting a separate criminal investigation, the prosecutors argue.

User information

However, in reaction to news of the prosecutors' complaint last week, Google said that it had met all requirements.

"We have obeyed all the judicial orders that requested we remove undue content," said Google spokesperson Nicole Wong at the time.

"Some orders demanded that we turn over user information for investigation and we complied," she said.

Google also said Brazilian officials should request information from the US, since that is where Orkut pages were hosted.

The search engine said it did not hold information about its users or any of Orkut's online communities in Brazil.

Based on Google information, Orkut has about 16 million users, of which nearly three-quarters are Brazilian.



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