Who Says the Internet is Like the Wild, Wild West?

The assertion is risible in light of this:

Worldwide, Google said it had received over 467 court orders covering over 7000 items between July and December 2011. It also received 561 other requests, including from the police, covering about 5000 items in the second half.

Other countries that are known to have differences with Google over online content also continued to demand removal of such content. In India, for example, the number of content removal requests from the government increased by 49 percent compared to the previous reporting period.

Google along with some other Internet companies already faces lawsuits in India for content found objectionable on its websites. A key issue in the dispute is whether an intermediary can be held liable for third-party content on its websites.

The U.S. topped in requests for user data with 6321 requests of which 93 percent were fully or partially complied with, while India came second with over 2000 requests, of which 66 percent were complied with by Google. Some of the requests in the U.S. were on behalf of other governments.