French Court Fines Google $660,000 Because Google Maps Is Free

Published on 02-02-2012 02:42 PM

Google faces a $660,000 fine after a French court ruling that the company is abusing its dominant position in mapping by making Google Maps free.

According to The Economic Times, the French commercial court “upheld an unfair competition complaint lodged by Bottin Cartographes against Google France and its parent company Google Inc. for providing free web mapping services to some businesses.”

Bottin Cartographes provides mapping services for a cost, and its website boasts several business clients such as Louis Vuitton, Airbus and several automobile manufacturers.
The French court ruling requires Google to pay $660,000 (500,000 Euros) in damages and interest to Bottin Cartographes, along with a 15,000 Euro fine. That means Google’s total cost from the ruling is about $680,000.

A Google France spokesperson says the company is still studying the court’s decision and reviewing its options, adding that Google is “convinced that a free high-quality mapping tool is beneficial for both Internet users and websites.”

Categories:
Internet

14 Comments

duke0102 - 02-02-2012, 04:27 PM
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This is mental, they should be allowed to do what they want. I'm confident in saying that I reckon Google didn't sink all that time and money into making it to purposely piss off cartography companies...

bobbintb - 02-02-2012, 08:06 PM
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sound like another company trying to cling on to its dying business with a dying business model.

that amount is pretty much pennies to google anyway.

Gaza - 02-02-2012, 10:17 PM
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This is just retarded.....

megabyteme - 02-02-2012, 11:47 PM
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The map company can just save itself some time and effort by printing off pages from Google- just like everybody else.

Yeah, dead business model. Like needing record companies to distribute music.

ulun64 - 02-03-2012, 06:12 AM
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What's wrong with this world???? Give ppls free things also can get a fine.

godofhell - 02-03-2012, 02:49 PM
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1.
$680,000 for Google is petty change that they can just throw away.
2. Google should block France from using their FREE services and see how long it takes the French court to change their mind (my bet is 2-3 days)

darkstate - 02-03-2012, 05:04 PM
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I agree with godofhell. Simply block the map service in France if it's unfair. Let the French people choose which service they wish to pay for. Oh, that's right. No need to pay TAX on FREE services. Who's REALLY complaining?

ghurka - 02-03-2012, 05:17 PM
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Originally Posted by godofhell

1.
$680,000 for Google is petty change that they can just throw away.
2. Google should block France from using their FREE services and see how long it takes the French court to change their mind (my bet is 2-3 days)

But if they pay the fine they are admitting wrongdoing. It leaves them open for any other mapping company to also sue them. They need to appeal the decision and should how ridiculous this really is before it spiders and affects other free provisions.

megabyteme - 02-03-2012, 07:59 PM
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We want to revolutionize the world, we just don't want to change anything.

godofhell - 02-04-2012, 02:28 PM
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Originally Posted by ghurka

Originally Posted by godofhell

1.
$680,000 for Google is petty change that they can just throw away.
2. Google should block France from using their FREE services and see how long it takes the French court to change their mind (my bet is 2-3 days)

But if they pay the fine they are admitting wrongdoing. It leaves them open for any other mapping company to also sue them. They need to appeal the decision and should how ridiculous this really is before it spiders and affects other free provisions.

I never said they should pay. I just said the 600000 is chomp change for them. Google should continue providing free maps to everyone. If they dont like it MAKE YOUR PRODUCT BETTER and maybe someone will actually pay for it.

sensational - 02-05-2012, 12:05 AM
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well everyone loves something for free and i and many of u are the same very bizarre story !!

attackdog - 02-06-2012, 01:59 AM
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Google should shut down their .fr site with the page saying "Thanks Bottin Cartographes sueing us over giving you free maps we have decided to shut down google.fr" see how long that company stays in business then