Brazil: Orkut Used to Promote Pedophilia

Prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro say they have filed a civil suit against the Brazilian subsidiary of Google because its Orkut social-networking service is being used to promote pedophilia and defamation and to defend organized crime.

Prosecutors say in a statement that Google has 120 days to create mechanisms to identify "the profiles, communities and pages dedicated to pedophilia and to the justification of crime."

They also say Google must create systems to identify and store Internet Protocol addresses and sponsor a media campaign to alert parents on the dangers involved in using the Internet and Orkut.

Should Google not comply, it will be fined at least 100,000 reals ($56,500) a day.

Calls to Google for comment went unanswered.