The problem wasn't "John Smith is a common name and when asked who John Smith was it accurately said someone named John Smith was arrested for drug possession"

The problem wasn't "John Smith is a common name and when asked who John Smith was it accurately said someone named John Smith was arrested for drug possession" it was it invented claims about the name which weren't sourceable for anybody with that name. Since this is now replaced with cited Bing results that problem goes away, it's relevant and provable to be someone with that name even if that's not true of everyone with that name. Compliance is definitely tough though. Of course you don't have to offer your service in every region just because you operate on the web and not doing so is a valid alternative to dealing with regional regulations instead. The only invalid option is demanding you both do business in a region and don't have to comply with its rules.