Italian appeals court clears Google execs

PARIS — An appeals court in Milan on Friday overturned the conviction of three Google executives on charges of violating Italian privacy laws. The company hailed the decision as a victory for Internet freedom.

The ruling, by a panel of three judges, nullified a 2010 decision in which the executives were found guilty and sentenced to six-month suspended sentences by a lower court judge who said they had been too slow to remove a video from a Google-owned website in which teenagers bullied an autistic boy.

The original verdict raised alarms about threats to Internet freedom in Italy. Google and many other Internet companies have maintained that they cannot, and should not, be required to review the content of usergenerated material before it is posted on their sites. NEW YORK — Investors sent Washington a reminder Friday that Wall Street is a power player in talks to avoid the “fiscal cliff.”

Stocks fell sharply after House Republicans called off a vote on tax rates and left federal budget talks in disarray 10 days before sweeping tax increases and government spending cuts take effect.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 120 points to close at 13,190, a decline of 0.9 percent. Other indexes posted comparable losses. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 13 points to 1,430. The Nasdaq composite index declined 29 points to 3,021.

The House bill would have raised taxes on Americans making at least $1 million per year and locked in decade-old tax cuts for Americans making less. Taxes will rise for almost all Americans on Jan. 1 unless Congress acts.

House Speaker John Boehner had presented what he called “Plan B” while he