Google Must Pay $660k For Offering Google Maps For Free

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Who knew that offering Google Maps for free was an unfair and abusive practice? :eek:

A Paris Court earlier this week ordered Google France and its parent company Google to pay plaintiff Bottin Cartographes 500,000 euros (about $660,000) for providing its free mapping services to businesses across the country. The court also required Google to pay a 15,000 euro fine for its practice.
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While I would be the first to jump on the EU for fining American companies as a source of revenue model, they kind of have a point here. Google can offer map services for free, because they are so huge. They offer it at a loss, preventing other competitors from entering the space.
 
Damnit, that was the basis of my class action lawsuit! How dare they give stuff for free! :(
 
This reminds me of when Microsoft was accused of unfair practices for giving away Internet Explorer back when you had to pay for Netscape.
 
niconx said:
This reminds me of when Microsoft was accused of unfair practices for giving away Internet Explorer back when you had to pay for Netscape.
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Its similar I suppose, but if a company owns an operating system, they should be able to include whatever functionality they wish in that OS.
 
Monkey God said:
Its similar I suppose, but if a company owns an operating system, they should be able to include whatever functionality they wish in that OS.
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Not according to the EU. Thats why there's windows N versions, free of WMP and IE which nobody buys.
 
It is a pathetic world we live in where you can get fined for giving something away. It isn't an unfair practice. Perhaps Bottin should of made a product that was good enough to justify people paying to use it instead of a free service.
 
Unfortunate, but Microsoft did set a precedence when they lost their cases regarding IE and MediaPlayer.
 
I don't really understand the issue here. Can someone break this down?

Google is being fined for providing maps/map services for free... Specifically because a map/map services company is unable to compete with this.

I... what?
 
Shambler said:
I don't really understand the issue here. Can someone break this down?

Google is being fined for providing maps/map services for free... Specifically because a map/map services company is unable to compete with this.

I... what?
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It's not as if there aren't several other (free) online map options either.
 
niconx said:
This reminds me of when Microsoft was accused of unfair practices for giving away Internet Explorer back when you had to pay for Netscape.
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I don't remember ever having to pay for Netscape. It was always a free download.

The gripe - I believe - was that Netscape was being forced out because Microsoft was using its market dominance in one area (operating systems) to take over another (browsers)
 
Shambler said:
I... what?
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^^ Pretty much sums it up. :eek:

Free stuff: Pay a fine
Competition: Pay a fine

jackiechanmeme.png
 
So when new technology makes your business plan unsustainable you get to sue the company providing that technology? I suppose EU courts would have sided with the horse buggy makers against Henry Ford.

How is it Google's fault that people still think, "Maps! There's money to made there!" ?
 
They better fine all the churches over there for giving free help to families while companies charge for it. You know like groceries for needy families. Under that ruling this would also be considered unfair practices.
 
Zarathustra[H];1038336928 said:
I don't remember ever having to pay for Netscape. It was always a free download.
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There was a boxed version you could buy. I don't know anyone who bought one, but it was there.
 
tikiman2012 said:
They better fine all the churches over there for giving free help to families while companies charge for it. You know like groceries for needy families. Under that ruling this would also be considered unfair practices.
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Churches are non-profit...Google is definately about profit. Try again.


Note: I do agree the ruling is asinine..but your comparison is equally so. :)
 
tikiman2012 said:
They better fine all the churches over there for giving free help to families while companies charge for it. You know like groceries for needy families. Under that ruling this would also be considered unfair practices.
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What I wonder is; Have they explicitly stated what the minimum allowed price is? Or could a company just doing business as usual one day find themselves being fined by the EU for charging too little?
 
This is whining taken to the extreme.

Google is giving this service away for fucking free.

It should be incumbant on the French company to prove to me what makes their service so special they can charge money for it.
No wonder these dopes lost so much in WW II and why they are generally a step-child in the world economy.....
There economy exists because all they do is sue other companies and essentially are protectionists.

Fuck them.:mad:
 
Fucking retarded....... *sigh* and I thought laws around here sucked. It's EVERYWHERE!!!!
 
I wonder how hard Microsoft is going to be hit when Windows 8 ships with MSE ... oh I mean "Windows Defender" with the same engine as MSE.
 
Monkey God said:
While I would be the first to jump on the EU for fining American companies as a source of revenue model, they kind of have a point here. Google can offer map services for free, because they are so huge. They offer it at a loss, preventing other competitors from entering the space.
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The question is, is this truly anti-competitive practices, or is it just that Google is more competitive than its competitors in this space?

If it were like they claim, and Google was intentionally absorbing losses trying to put their smaller competitor out of business, with the intent of charging a fee at a later time, then I would agree with he finding.

The actual case - however - is very different. Google has a different business model. Their income comes from the data they collect when people use their services and the advertising they are able to do with that data.

This is - IMHO - a little bit like suing car manufactuers because you can no longer sell your horse drawn carriages.

Google has a more modern competitive business model. There is nothing wrong with that. The French are just being protective douchebags as usual, finding with the local boys instead of the Americans at any cost.

At least now with the EU as integrated as it is when it comes to business laws, this can be appealed up to a court outside of France which likely will allow for more favorable results.
 
Whatever happened to the adage that the best government is that which governs least... the less government sticks its nose in business the better off we'd all be.
 
Trepidati0n said:
Churches are non-profit...Google is definately about profit. Try again.


Note: I do agree the ruling is asinine..but your comparison is equally so. :)
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You can say that churches are non-profit all you want. The truth of the matter is that they aren't. They have a business model just like every other company.
 
Zarathustra[H];1038336928 said:
I don't remember ever having to pay for Netscape. It was always a free download.

The gripe - I believe - was that Netscape was being forced out because Microsoft was using its market dominance in one area (operating systems) to take over another (browsers)
Click to expand...

Being able to download it meant having a way to get online already...before IE was packaged with windows, you actually had buy physical software to install on your computer to get onto the internet. I remember going to CompUSA in the early 90s with my parents to buy Netscape (in a box with either a floppy or cd, not sure which) to install on their Gateway2000 running Windows 3.1. They had just signed up for internet service with a local ISP using a 14.4k modem...:eek: (The only other options were AOL or natinoal ISPs like Prodigy with non-local access numbers that were long-distance calls!)
 
MapQuest did it first. Why aren't anyone going after the Father of Free Online Map?
 
Wouldn't it simply fall under charity work. It can't be illegal to help people over there.
 
Maybe Google should just shut down google france, pull out the country, black out all of France on google maps and kill any search results that come from France.
 
Trepidati0n said:
Churches are non-profit...Google is definately about profit. Try again.
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I will have to disagree with that title as well. Churches are some of the most profitable businesses in the world. They also have unfair advantages that allow this to happen. No audits, no taxes, etc. I believe I read/seen somewhere the Vatican (City) churches have some of the most purchasing power on the planet (Gold, money, etc).

I'm sorry but if they gave two shits they wouldn't have 98% of what they do have.
 
mjcutri said:
Being able to download it meant having a way to get online already...before IE was packaged with windows, you actually had buy physical software to install on your computer to get onto the internet. I remember going to CompUSA in the early 90s with my parents to buy Netscape (in a box with either a floppy or cd, not sure which) to install on their Gateway2000 running Windows 3.1. They had just signed up for internet service with a local ISP using a 14.4k modem...:eek: (The only other options were AOL or natinoal ISPs like Prodigy with non-local access numbers that were long-distance calls!)
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Ahh, I think I always just had a floppy kicking around with it or something, or maybe I got it from a BBS.

Can't remember.

Either way, I never recall having to pay for it, and I used it from the initial release, and at no point was there any piracy involved...
 
Dwango said:
So when new technology makes your business plan unsustainable you get to sue the company providing that technology? I suppose EU courts would have sided with the horse buggy makers against Henry Ford.

How is it Google's fault that people still think, "Maps! There's money to made there!" ?
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Heh, I am waiting for Garmin to sue them in the EU courts for providing a free and superior product in Google Navigation...
 
Majinhoju said:
Maybe Google should just shut down google france, pull out the country, black out all of France on google maps and kill any search results that come from France.
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I agree. If I was in charge of Google, I'd just pull the plug on those idiots. Let them choke on their own local providers and see how things work out.

Oh yeah......cutting you off from google is free, too.:D
 
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