Polish President No Penis
by John Paczkowski
Posted on September 14, 2007 at 5:10 PM PT
If you’re developing search engine optimization software in Poland, it’s probably not wise to test it on the Web site of your notoriously humorless president–especially if you plan to insult him.
A 23-year-old programmer is facing three years in prison after he Google-bombed the Web site of Polish President Lech Kaczy?ski, making it Google Polska’s top result for a search on “kutas,” the Polish word for penis. Said the programmer, “I just wanted to verify my skills and check if the software works.”
A sophomoric prank to be sure, but one that did not go over well with an administration that views insults to a head of state as a prosecutable offense. “This is not a matter of freedom of speech,” said Andrzej Holdys, a regional prosecutor in the southern town of Cieszyn, where the programmer lives. “If somebody uses a derogatory word to libel the head of state, then it’s a clear insult which violates the law.”
