French mapping company claims unfair competitionWeb News By Jools Whitehorn 2 hours ago | Tell us what you think [ 2 comments ]
Tweet
Should we be paying for maps? Google has been fined for unfairly taking advantage of the dominant position of Google Maps by giving away the service for free.
The internet giant has already been pulled up by French authorities for sniffing out personal data while taking pictures for its Street View service.
This time, Bottin Cartographes lodged a complaint against Google France and Google Inc, claiming that its actions constituted unfair competition.
A French commercial court upheld the complaint and ordered Google to shell out €500,000 in damages and interest, plus a €15,000 fine.
Does Google plan to charge?The French company concerned distributes the same mapping services as Google Maps, but charges a fee. It claimed that Google's plan is to get ahead by undercutting the competition until it is in an unassailable position.
Bottin Cartographes' lawyer, Jean-David Scemmama said, "this is the end of a two-year battle, a decision without precedent."
"We proved the illegality of (Google's) strategy to remove its competitors... the court recognised the unfair and abusive character of the methods used and allocated Bottin Cartographes all it claimed. This is the first time Google has been convicted for its Google Maps application."
A Google France spokesman responded, saying, "We will appeal this decision. We remain convinced that a free high-quality mapping tool is beneficial for both Internet users and websites. There remains competition in this sector for us, both in France and internationally."
From AFP via Engadget Tags: google, france, fine, maps, bottin cartographesTweetreddit!StumbleuponComment on this article Your comments (2) Click to add a new commentshauney32. This is really strange. What about Bing Maps? Are Google going to get sued for everything - because all of their services are free..?
Alert a moderatordemonhighwayman1. Boo hoo, to the stupid french mapping company. Google aren't the only company with free maps. And online maps shouldn't be charged for. The internet is paid for in one way or another and everything that goes online should be free.
Alert a moderator Tell us what you thinkYou need to Log in or register to post comments By submitting this form you agree to our Terms of Use and so are legally responsible for anything you submit. DO NOT submit anything which may violate the Terms of Use or another person's rights including copyrighted or offensive materials.
Submit Explore News WebBroadbandVoIP Related News Google defends Search Plus Your WorldGoogle Music intros complete library downloadsLogitech officially out of Google TV gameGoogle Offers expands to five new citiesGoogle privacy update will track you across products Related Reviews Google Earth 6Google TVGoogle Nexus S 
Google fined by France over Street View data Google has been fined a whopping €100,000 (£87,000) in France for gathering personal data from open Wi-Fi networks, while taking pictures for Street View.
NEWESTMOST READMOST COMMENTED TECH NEWS HEADLINESGet your thinking caps on for James Dyson Award 2012How to set up your PC for great surround soundRicoh GXR 24-85mm camera unit announcedSamsung set to reboot Galaxy S2 for MWC 2012Apple iTV 'to land 2012 and to revolutionise market'Zynga is worth $445 million to FacebookMore TECH NEWS HEADLINES20 best mobile phones in the world today50 best free Android appsTop 50 best free iPad apps 2012Best netbook 2012: top 14 in the world todayBest compact system camera 2012: 18 reviewed and ratedTop 30 best free games you should play todayHands on: PS Vita review TECH NEWS HEADLINESiPhone 5 rumours: what you need to know (135)iPad 3 rumours: what you need to know (26)T-Mobile has changed the data game forever (14)Samsung confirms Galaxy S3 delay (11)Sky's ITV and BBC agreement is a huge deal (9)BB 10: What you need to know (6)'Truly unlimited' data plan announced by T-Mobile (5)
Find a review
Get more from TechRadar iPhone 5 rumours: what you need to knowiPad 3 rumours: what you need to know20 best mobile phones in the world todayHands on: Motorola Droid 4 review12 best Blu-ray players in the UK 2012iPhone 4SSamsung Galaxy NexusNokia Lumia 800Amazon Kindle FireSamsung Galaxy NoteNikon V1HTC RadarNikon J1iPhone 3GSHTC SensationSamsung Galaxy AceHTC Wildfire S TechRadar PollDoes iPlayer on Sky make a difference to your life?
Yes, it will be amazing!I don't watch iPlayerNo, I watch iPlayer elsewhereNot a jot, I don't have SkyI might use it sometimesVote Results Where am I?Technology NewsTech newsApple newsMobile phone newsTablet newsTV newsCamera newsPC component newsPC newsLaptop newsInternet newsGadget newsGaming newsHome cinema newsHi-fi newsTechnology ReviewsDigital camera reviewsCamcorder reviewsMobile phone reviewsMP3 and iPod reviewsNetworking reviewsPC reviewsPC component reviewsLaptop reviewsTablet reviewsTV reviewsBlu-ray reviewsHi-fi reviewsTechRadarAbout usContact usSitemapReport this pageAccessibilityMedia enquiriesTerms and conditionsPrivacy policyAdvertising enquiriesJobsMore from TechRadarRegister & email newsletterFacebookTwitterYouTubeRSS feedsForumsPhone dealsSell your old mobileTechRadar Network3D RadarTap! magazineMacFormat magazinePC Format magazinePC Plus magazineLinux Format magazine
Copyright 2006 - 2011 Future Publishing Limited,
30 Monmouth Street, Bath, BA1 2BW, United Kingdom
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment