February 17th, 2007
Google's big European hypocricy
In “Google gets defensive, all over the world” earlier in the week, I pointed out the $150 billion market cap irony of the world’s most powerful company decrying the use of the world’s legal system, when others employ it to defend themselves against alleged Google unfair business practices.
I underscored that Google is in reality one of the world’s greatest believers in the legal code, because it believes it can construe it and drive its enforcement to the Google advantage, all over the world.
I cited Google’s European operations chastising leading European publishing organizations after a Belgian court upheld its decision that Google infringed on copyright at Google News:
The Belgian court, which last year ruled against us in the Copiepresse case has reaffirmed its original decision…(but) There is no need for legal action and all the associated costs.
This just in: Google is actually “OK” with turning to the European courts for “justice,” for Google justice, that is.
There apparently IS need for legal action and all the associated costs, if Google is the allegedly aggrieved party:
Reports from the Agence France Presse:
Google has launched legal action against a group of Polish poets, demanding that they give up their Internet domain name gmail.pl, a member of the cultural collective said.
Izabela Krawczyk of GMAiL — the "Grupa Mlodych Artystow i Literatow," or Group of Young Artists and Writers — told AFP that Google had turned to the country's IT and telecommunications tribunal to try to stop them using the Web site address www.gmail.pl.
"We bought the name legally, with our own money. Nobody gave it to us for free. We refuse to be deprived of what we consider is our property." Krawczyk said. Google had not proposed a financial settlement, according to Krawczyk.
Krawczyk, a poet and IT fan based in the central Polish city of Lodz, said that at the end of last year her group was surprised to discover that www.gmail.pl was available.
Google has also faced problems after failing to be the first one to register local versions of its domain name in Britain and Germany.
Is Google Headed for a Fall?
READ THE GREAT GOOGLE DEBATE in FAST COMPANY MAGAZINE:
Donna Bogatin vs. Danny Sullivan!
