Google News, Inside.

Google Plays Nice with South Korea

South Korea recently passed a law that requires sites with over 100,000 unique visitors per day, to require its users to provide their full name and national ID before posting videos and comments.

“We have a bias in favor of freedom of expression and are committed to openness,” said Lucinda Barlow, a spokeswoman for YouTube in [...]

Google Gets Sued Everyday

Reported on BBC in a recent interview with Eric Schmidt, Schmidt states that Google gets sued everyday; they are used to it now.

Here’s a short recap of recent lawsuits

How to Sue Google and Win
Model Sues Google over “Skanky” Comment
Google, Apple, and Microsoft All Being Sued
Google Lawsuit Over Search Rankings
Google Takes Heat for Potential Age [...]

How to Sue Google and Win

Aaron Greenspan writes about his story of suing Google…and winning.
His story accounts for him being both an AdSense publisher and an AdWords customer through his company, Think Computer Corporation, where he is the CEO.
You can read the full article on The Huffington Post.
[ via Blogoscoped & Reddit ]

Google AdSense and the DMCA

This has been a long-standing issue for quite some time now. People copying other people without attribution or care of the original work. This happens frequently to a number of blogs, including this one, Ginside.com.

Inside AdSense has written a great article about how to take action and deal with these copyright violators.
Here’s a [...]

Google Getting Careless with Branding

Google is a company that I would expect to protect its brand, trademark, and copyright, but in a few cases, I have seen that they haven’t been very protective.
The first instance is GOOGLE.vc. This website is not owned by Google.

I’ve talked about this domain before and mentioned it to a number of Google employees, [...]

Copyright Violations Go Too Far

Here is a great example of when copyright violations go too far.
Warner Music Group, the label for Death Cab for Cutie, asked YouTube to take down some videos because they were violating some copyrights.
Here is the result.

It was most likely accidental by someone on the band’s staff for the website, placing an unauthorized copy of [...]

Model Sues Google over “Skanky” Comment

A Vogue cover girl is suing Google with the attempt to reveal who the anonymous blogger is.
Hold up just a moment. People say all sorts of stuff all the time. That’s the whole point of the first amendment here in the United States. People are allowed to say whatever they want to [...]

Google, Apple, and Microsoft All Being Sued

The latest law suit brought to Google’s doorstep is not targeted specifically at Google, but three of the major players in the industry. All three, Google, Apple, and Microsoft, are being sued by a small firm out of Michigan.
This law suit came as an early Christmas present, on Christmas Eve. Here’s a short [...]

Apple Gambles with Papermaster’s Skills

Google might not have as much to worry about as I thought they would. Papermaster’s role at Apple won’t be directly in chip making. IBM, Papermaster’s previous employer, is throwing down a lawsuit against Papermaster to prevent him from going forward with the Apple employment. (Lawsuit PDF)
Despite the non-compete agreement signed when Papermaster [...]

YouTube Gets Another YouSuit from Europe

YouTube is back in the hole with another law suit, but this time from a European company. From Reuters,
Mediaset said a sample analysis of YouTube at June 10 found “at least 4,643 videos and clips owned by us, equivalent to more than 325 hours of transmission without having rights”.
Mediaset said this was equal to [...]

PageRank Patent to Expire?

I have talked about the PageRank patent before on this blog, but it’s time that we bring up the discussion again.
Today, news has been spreading across the web about how the patent office is changing its policies on what you are and are not allowed to patent.
The Patent and Trademark Office has now made clear [...]

Google Lawsuit Over Search Rankings

Are you ready for another win for Google? Here we go!
This time around, “two real estate agents in Victoria, Australia have filed suit against Google. Mark Forytarz & Paul Castran claim defamation due to articles painting them in a negative light that can be found on the search engine.”

This story sounds awefully familiar. [...]

Google Takes Heat for Potential Age Discrimination

Brian Reid is the source of this law suit that Google is being handed. “Age discrimination” is what Reid is filing for.
In his lawsuit, Brian Reid alleges he was told he was not a “cultural fit” when he was being fired from his job in February 2004. He also claims that his colleagues referred [...]

YouTube Gets Another YouSuit

According to InfoWorld.com,
An Indian music label has filed a suit against Google and its video sharing site YouTube after the display on YouTube of content on which the Indian company says it holds copyright.
Super Cassettes Industries is seeking a permanent injunction and damages on the dissemination and display on YouTube of the content and on Monday obtained an interim restraint order in the High Court in Delhi. That means Google, which was not represented at the proceedings, has to remove the content until the final order is decided.
“We had communicated several times to YouTube and to Google both in India and the U.S. to remove the content that infringes our copyrights,” said Amit Sibal, lawyer for Super Cassettes in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
Big surprise? Certainly not. Some companies may be slow to draw their gun, but they will certainly draw it at one point.

Google Getting Sued Again, Among Other Big Boys

A recent report coming from TechDirt, Google is among many of the major players in the Internet world that is getting sued over Automated E-mail Response technology. Of course though, the firm that is making the accusations and filing the lawsuit is a firm that does nothing else than buy up patents and sue companies (which doesn’t seem like that great of a business model, if you ask

Google in the Clear with Postini

Early last month, Google announced the acquisition of Postini, an online e-mail specialty company. As normal procedure happens in the United States of America, the government needs to take speculation at the acquisition to ensure there aren’t any antitrust laws being broken. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has confirmed that the acquisition of Postini is legal and binding so there is no need for any action to be taken on the government’s behalf. Google is still in the dark about whether or not the DoubleClick acquisition will go through or not.

Public Policy is Actually Public Policy Now

Google has officially launched a blog specifically all about Google Public Policy. With much scrutiny in the recent past, it’s a smart move that they do create this outlet for the public. We’re seeking to do public policy advocacy in a Googley way. Yes, we’re a multinational corporation that argues for our positions before officials, legislators, and opinion leaders. At the same time, we want our users to be part of the effort, to know what we’re saying and why, and to help us refine and improve our policy positions and advocacy strategies. With input and ideas from our users, we’ll surely do a better job of fighting for our common interests. Google now has the stance of being very open with their polices — just as they were before.

Google: 1 Kinderstart: 0

As Kinderstart.com sued Google in July of 2006, they were fighting because Google set their PageRank to a zero which dramatically dropped off their search rankings. So the question and legal dilemma came up of whether it was wrongful of Google to do that to Kinderstart.com.
The judges ruled. Google’s algorithm ranking with PageRank has no legal binding of public service that Google has to support. Google has the right to delist and de-PageRank any site they want to for any reason they want.
What it all comes down to is that what Google provides to the public, Google Search and the other bajillion services and products, is free of charge. There is no warranty, there is no guarantee, there is no policy saying it will last forever. What Google offers to everyone is for free use and a … well, a nice gift. Google sends thousands upon thousands of hits per day to my sites … FOR FREE!

Let’s Get Ready to Rumble! Viacom vs. Google

The next step in the copyright infringement wars has begun. Google (YouTube.com) is being sued by Viacom for “massive intentional copyright infringement” for the content being hosted on Google Video and YouTube.com. So what is the motivation behind these lawsuits from Viacom? Making money from content they do not own. That is basically what it all comes down to. Google (YouTube.com) is making millions, if

Google Beats Skyline Software in Patent Wars

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A U.S. judge ruled that Google Inc.’s 3D modeling software, which gives Web users an astronaut’s view of the earth and allows them to zoom down to street level, does not infringe the patent of a rival. Judge Douglas Woodlock of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston denied a complaint by Skyline Software Systems Inc. that the Google Earth mapping

The Oscars Do Not Like Google

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has forced Google-owned YouTube to remove video clips of last weekend’s Oscar broadcast. Is the Academy hopelessly out of touch or just making a smart business decision? Technology reporter Rachel Rosmarin and media editor Peter Kafka squared off on the Digital Download, a blog dedicated to the day’s must-read tech stories. Here’s what they had to say. This is going to prove

Google in Hot Water with Korea for Fair Trade Pact

Google has been hit with an alleged violation of the Korea Fair Trade Pact (”KFTC”). The unnamed web company in Korea which complained to the commission in Korea is battling Google over an unfair termination of contract over possible click fraud. The KFTC claims Google carried out violations including terminating the agreement between AdSense and the Korean company, failing to ensure payments and not providing advertisers with a

Google to Fight for Gmail.cn

A legal source told Reuters that Google was trying to buy the Internet domain name, held by Beijing-based ISM Technologies. It resembles Google’s internationally known e-mail service, gmail.com, and the colors in which the two logos are written are similar. The “.cn” suffix is commonly used for Chinese domain names. Google recently began offering free Gmail accounts in China to promote its brand. Another nasty trademark battle for Google.

Search Engines Rights to the First Ammendment

Search engine decisions to reject ads is protected by 47 USC 230(c)(2) as a legitimate decision to filter “otherwise objectionable” content. The court concludes that “Section 230 provides Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft immunity for their editorial decisions regarding screening and deletion from their network.” I’m expecting the KinderStart judge to protect Google’s ranking choices under 230(c)(2) as well. (In case you’re wondering, we’re still waiting for the KinderStart ruling that

Google Loses Gmail Name in Europe

Google’s Gmail trademark just suffered a severe blow in Europe as the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market has ruled against the search giant’s use of the Gmail name there, according to the man who opposed the mark. In short, Google will not be allowed to use the trademark Gmail within Europe. I’ve noticed already that UK residents use e-mail.address@googlemail.com instead of gmail.com as the domain. Gmail.de has some more details about it. This is a huge loss for Google because of how much they have already marketed the Gmail trade name across the Internet. While Europeans and UK residents already know it as something else, it’s still a loss to which Google could have had total ownership of the trademark name across the world.

Google, Apple, and Napster being Sued over Patents

The NY Times is reporting that Google, Apple, and Napster are all being sued over patent issues. Who’s behind the big lawsuit? Intertainer Inc.. This lawsuit looks like it’s going to be a nasty one; a lawsuit that the technology industry has never seen before. Intertainer’s tale is somewhat different than other intellectual property suits brought by technology licensing firms. By 2002 the company seemed to

Google Walks Away From the Fraud Case

Straight from BusinessWeek, there was a case about a click fraud software developer that blantantly walked into the Google office and threatened to release the software uneless they paid him $150,000. Despite all that being taped right in the Google offices, the man walked out without a hitch. By all appearances, Google faced a difficult dilemma. It could risk divulging information about its approach to click fraud and

Google comes to terms with Belgians

The agreement was made with the Belgian copyright groups Sofam, representing about 3,700 photographers, and Scam, on behalf of journalists. In September, Google lost a copyright suit initially filed by Copiepresse, a group representing French- and German-language newspapers in Belgium. That case is being reheard, but the company has removed links to 17 papers from its Google News page. Google lost another one. This is not such a big

Flach Film vs. Google

Flach Film is suiing Google over the video they have produced: The World According to Bush. PARIS – The producer of The World According to Bush has taken legal action against Google for distributing the film free, becoming the latest media company to seek compensation for lost business on the internet. That quote just about sums it up. Is this the start of what could be a long chain of lawsuits against Google for “lost business”? I definitely think so. I predict that we will see a lot more companies come out of the wood work to sue Google for their lost profits. Google Video is a great webapp for the world today, but it’s also a very high liability at times for Google. Updates to follow. nzherald

Google Domain Trademarking

Cristian wrote a good article about this so I’ll dig a bit more into it. Google is a very exclusive domain name. They want to protect their intellectual rights and therefore they are now banning AdSense publishers that have “google” in their top-level domain name or their second-level domain name. When I first started ginside.com, I was very careful not to put Google in the domain

Google video being sued this time

Google Video is the target of legal action this time. SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc.’s on-line video service has been sued for copyright infringement, providing a possible preview of the legal trouble that may plague the Internet search leader after it takes over YouTube Inc. and its library of pirated clips, the company said Wednesday. Seems like the video search industry is taking a big hit. Google is

Google Speaks Up Against Australia’s Senate

The warning came in a submission to Australia’s senate on legislation Google said could open the way for copyright owners to take legal action against search engines for caching and archiving. Google is putting their foot down here because they feel that the Australian senate is crossing the line here. Google one of the major players in the search industry. “Given the vast size of the Internet, it

Google Wins YouTube.com Ownership

The Chicago Tribune writes on the antitrust approval for Google over YouTube.com. The antitrust authorities were investigating the recent sale of YouTube.com to make sure it was in compliance with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The approval paves the way for Google to buy YouTube, leapfrogging it to the top spot in online video sharing. The acquisition also gives Google a way to tap the Web video advertising market, which will generate $1.1 billion in U.S. revenue in 2008, up from $385 million this year, according to market researcher EMarketer Inc. Google has been a long way away from being the Internet leader when it comes to broadcasting videos online. This purchase will attempt to recover those loses and once again take ownership of that lead.

AdSense.com Now Owned by Google

AdSense.com has been owned by an advertising consulting agency for quite some time. The company, AdSense, owned the domain quite some time before Google ever released their product of AdSense. AdSense.com never went to court about suing Google over the name copyright violations, but they did receive some added traffic to their site because so many people thought that they were going to Google’s AdSense.
AdSense.com is now owned by Google. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. The company that owned AdSense.com may have given it up freely or they may have been forced to give it up. Nissan.com went through a lawsuit battle over their domain as well, could this be similar?
But in the end, AdSense.com just goes to Google.com now — which seems kind of weird..maybe it should redirect to google.com/adsense? Maybe that’s just me though.
History Timeline of AdSense.com
- October 16, the owner was still AdSense Consulting
- October 23, the domain was transferred to MarkMonitor.com
- October 31, the domains registrant was set to “Trout & Zimmer”
- November 1, the domain was officially in the hands of Google

UTube.com Sues YouTube.com

UTube.com is suing YouTube.com for a couple of different reasons. First, all the traffic they have been getting and that they haven’t been able to handle it. Second, the police have been contacting them about hosting copyrighted videos — but that seems easy to clear up as they are in two completely different industries. It seems that the only reason UTube.com is coming out of the woods right now to sue is because YouTube.com cashed in and has a lot of money now. There’s really no trademark violation they could sue over and really no substancial evidence for any case at all. I don’t see this case going anywhere in court. More at TechDirt.com.

French Publishers Join the Lawsuit

As we’ve been watching and reading, Google is still being sued over copyright infringements overseas. La Martinière filed suit against Google and its French subsidiary in a French court on June 6, accusing the search engine of counterfeiting. It asked the court to stop the search engine from scanning its books, and demanded €1 million (US$1.3 million) in damages. The publisher said Google had illegally copied at least 100 of its copyright works and included them in its Google Book Search without permission. Google is going to fight this and probably drag in Amazon because of things they’ve done with copying books. But I do wonder if they’re going to just start pointing fingers saying… “they did it first!” This may turn out pretty ugly. Infoworld

The Fight Continues

Google’s legal problems are far from being over. They are still battling it out in the courts with the Belgium newspapers. The case focused on Google’s news aggregation service, which automatically scans the websites of newspapers, extracting headlines and snippets of text from each story. These are displayed at Google News and the headlines link users to the full stories on the source sites. Newspaper group Copiepresse, which represents leading Belgian, French and German publications, said this amounted to copyright infringement and a breach of database rules because its members had not been asked for permission. Google’s problem is that they did in fact infringe upon copyrights. I’ve had users take my content before, but I don’t have the legal team to back me up and fight about it. Stealing is stealing. As much as I love Google, I do believe they were in the wrong on this one. The Register

Amazon Just Says No

BsuinessWeek reports: Amazon.com Inc. has objected to providing details about its book search feature to rival Google Inc., which says it needs them to fight copyright infringement allegations from a group of authors and book publishers. Google says it needs the details to battle recently consolidated class action lawsuits filed against it by several major book publishers and The Authors Guild, which collectively allege Google didn’t get the proper approvals before making their work available to anyone with an Internet connection.

Google’s YouTube Faces New Law Suit

Shortly after Google’s recent acquisition of YouTube.com, Time Warner sent a friendly letter over to Google. Dick Parsons, the chairman and chief executive of Time Warner, fired a shot across the bows of Google, saying his group would pursue its copyright complaints against the video sharing site YouTube.com. …Mr Parsons told the Guardian: “You can assume we’re in negotiations with YouTube and that those negotiations will be kicked up to the Google level in the hope that we can get to some acceptable position.” The Gaurdian YouTube.com wasn’t really in a position to be fighting large corporations yet. Google? You bet. Google definitely has the resources to be fighting in the big league. Time Warner just wants some agreement, I don’t think they’re really looking to make a lot of money off the deal.

Google Fights Back Publishers

Google’s legal team has been busy and they are starting to fight back with subpoenas. Google’s alone on this book search database though. Yahoo! and Microsoft are teamed up as part of the Open Content Alliance which first obtains permissions from authors and publishers before making specific sections of copyrighted material available to the public. Google intends to find out through its subpoenas exactly what criteria the rival scanning projects intend to use judge what constitutes fair use, as well as financial details of how book sales would be affected and digital rights management features. Google isn’t likely going to back down any time soon on this matter. Google is aiming to be a global source for information and this is one of the major steps in doing that. iTWire.com.au