[LINK] Non-Response by Google Costs (A Tiny Bit)

Roger Clarke Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
Sat Jan 7 12:18:49 AEDT 2012


French court frowns on Google autocomplete, issues $65,000 fine
By Jon Brodkin
Ars Technica
6 January 2012
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/french-court-frowns-on-google-autocomplete-issues-65000-fine.ars

A court in Paris, France has fined Google $65,000 because its search 
engine's autocomplete feature brings up the French word for "crook" 
when users type the name of an insurance company.

Google had been sued by insurance company Lyonnaise de Garantie, 
which was offended by search results including the word "escroc," 
meaning crook, according to a story posted Tuesday by the Courthouse 
News Service.

"Google had argued that it was not liable since the word, added under 
Google Suggest, was the result of an automatic algorithm and did not 
come from human thought," the article states. "A Paris court ruled 
against Google, however, pointing out that the search engine ignored 
requests to remove the offending word... In addition to the fine, 
Google must also remove the term from searches associated with 
Lyonnaise de Garantie."

A Forbes story says such a ruling is unlikely to occur in the US. But 
it "sets a bad precedent for Google in Europe. There are quite a few 
people and companies out there who may have suggestions for their 
names that could be considered defamatory."


-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law               University of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University



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