A business consultant wants a court to force YouTube and its owner, Google Inc., to reveal the identity of someone who posted what she says are unauthorized videos of her and online comments that hurt her reputation to a Columbia Business School web site while she was attending the school.
Carla Franklin, a former model and actress turned MBA, said in a legal petition filed Aug. 16 that she believes a Google user or users impugned her sexual mores in comments made under pseudonyms on a Columbia Business School web site.
Franklin says someone also posted unauthorized YouTube clips of her appearing in a small-budget independent movie.
Mountain View, Calif.-based Google said in a statement that it doesn’t discuss individual cases to protect users’ privacy, but it follows applicable laws.