Court fines Google France for giving away the Maps software for free
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Still, this didn't prevent a French court in Paris from blasting Google with a 500, 000 Euro in damages (about $660, 000) for the simple fact that it is giving Google Maps for free.
Somehow the company Bottin Cartographes, which obviously specializes in mapping services, has managed to file this strange lawsuit, and on top of that convince the court that Google is stifling innovation by giving away its Maps service.
Short of splitting the damages and 15, 000 Euro fine awarded with the judges, we don't really see how the free Google Maps, which doesn't even offer true offline navigation, has been ruled as undercutting the paid GPS apps out there that offer it. The lawyer for Bottin Cartographes, Jean-David Scemmama, had the following comment:
By the same logic, Bottin Cartographes should sue Nokia for bundling the free Nokia Drive with its Windows Phones, and have an even more compelling case on its hands, since it offers free offline voice guidance worldwide. Google is planning to appeal, of course, and noted that there is real competition in this space, with Google Maps only being a supplementary service.
source: AFP via Engadget
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11 Comments
2. bloodline posted on 02 Feb 2012, 04:09 3 0
lol just when i thought patent wars were bad enough !!! Honestly all this blame and claim, sue, patent wars is so pathetic and really needs to be regulated better.
IMO
It seems every major innovative company needs to invest heavily in great lawyers.
wish i went to law school now
3. krysis posted on 02 Feb 2012, 05:32 2 0
I guess it's all in perspective. You can look at it as being a free service, or, a service that comes bundled with the price of the device.
5. Droid_X_Doug posted on 02 Feb 2012, 06:55 0 0
This is just the first round in a long fight. I hope Bottin has a bunch of cash to fund the litigation.
6. DontHateOnS60 posted on 02 Feb 2012, 07:14 4 0
Wow, so instead of spending money on trying to show that what they offer is worth what you pay for it, they're blowing money on litigation. Great move idiots. I hope Google bankrupts them.
9. downphoenix posted on 02 Feb 2012, 15:43 0 0
they're just admirers of big daddy Apple, and that's how Apple does it.
7. atheisticemetic posted on 02 Feb 2012, 08:51 2 0
it's not like the Windows scam with their Office bundle...they need to lay off the legal wars
it's getting ridiculous
8. Rayzin posted on 02 Feb 2012, 12:51 0 0
Stifling competition?! No one owns the ability to map out an area! Sorry your navigation company went out of business because someone can do it better then you. Thats like a photographer sueing google for posting images that are better then his!
10. ivanko34 posted on 02 Feb 2012, 18:20 0 1
Its a trick made by this French company
They made a ugly service full of ads and you must pay for it !
Then they attack google in justice pretending they cannot compete
So the easy way to go money in France is for instance to make a pay webmail then attack gmail...
11. XiphiasGladius posted on 03 Feb 2012, 04:33 0 0
If it goes by that logic, wow we could make millions oooopps I mean hundreds of thousand here bro. I just LOLed hard to that. . .
