A court in Brazil today ordered that YouTube be "shut down," whatever that means, until the company takes down a celebrity sex tape (nsfw video link, another, and another) which was the subject of a recent lawsuit:
Daniela Cicarelli, a model and ex-wife of soccer great Ronaldo, sued YouTube after a video of her apparently having sex in shallow water on a beach with her boyfriend was posted to the site. For days it was the most viewed video in Brazil.Cicarelli and boyfriend [Renato, aka "Tato"] Malzoni filed to force YouTube to take the video down and demanded $116,000 in damages for each day the video remains up. Some copies of the video have been taken off the site but users have reposted it. The case dragged on for several months before they filed a third suit in December requesting that YouTube be shut down as long as the video is available to users.
Reuters link. Related blog discussion here and elsewhere.
The video (at least the version circulating now) isn't all that explicit, but it's super cheesy. It's been edited to include schlocky samba music and subtitles ("an ice cream to cool the heat… or does it, hmmm?"). Mr. Malzoni, a real estate heir whose public LinkedIn profile identifies him as a vice president with Merril Lynch in Brazil, hangs a bunch of seaweed on his schlong at the end.
I'm not sure what the Brazilian court intends to do to enforce this ruling, since YouTube (and its parent company, Google) are based in the US. Will they take steps to try and block access within Brazil? A court that country last year demanded that Google disclose user data related to Orkut (also owned by Google) over child porn. Google removed some of the pages in question, but didn't comply with the data demands. (Thanks, Cardoso, thanks for the video DAM)
Previously on BB:
Reader comment: Kyle Goetz says,
The language of the subtitles in the video is Spanish. It says:
An evening of love with Daniella Cicarelli (Una tarde con Daniella Cicarelli) Sangria for refreshment. (Sangría para refrescarse) Hug me, silly (Abrázame tonto) The passion intensifies (Aumenta la pasión) Taste. (Gusto) Smell. (Olfato) Touch. (Tacto) The kingdom of the senses. (El imperio de los sentidos) The time for appetizers arrives. (Llega la hora del tentempié) An ice cream fights the heat…or not? (Un helado contra el calor, ¿o no?) In fact, I bet the person who created the subtitles was Chilean, since the word "tentempié" is Chilean Spanish for "appetizer."
Jon Power says,
I wonder if "The kingdom of the senses. (El imperio de los sentidos)" is actually a reference to The Realm Of The Senses or Empire Of The Senses, alternate titles for a rather saucy film Ai No Corrida.
Diego V. Hernández writes,
Kyle Goetz says: "In fact, I bet the person who created the subtitles was Chilean, since the word "tentempié" is Chilean Spanish for ' appetizer.'"
To which I say: Actually "tentempié" is Spanish for "snack".
I'm not sure if "tentempié" is used in Chile, but it's not "Chilean Spanish". It's used widely in spanish-speaking countries, and is recognized by the Royal Spanish Academy (Real Academia Española), more or less the arbiter of the spanish language. "Tentempié" comes from "tente en pie", more or less "keep you standing up".
Better translations (haven't seen the video, just translating the Spanish posted) would be:
An evening with Daniella Cicarelli (Una tarde con Daniella Cicarelli) – No mention of love in the Spanish.
The time for a snack arrives. (Llega la hora del tentempié)
In the realm of the senses. (El imperio de los sentidos) – This references the Spanish title of Nagisha Orima's Ai no corrida.
Carlos Riquelme says,
Regarding the comment made by Kyle Goetz, the video was an exclusive by Telecinco's Dolce Vita, a tv-show devoted to celebrities. Telecinco is a Spanish television network, ergo, the subtitles were not created by a Chilean, but by a Spanish person.
