May. 5, 2008 at 11:10am by Greg Sterling

Changes To Google UK Trademark Policy May Result In Lawsuits

In the US marketers may use competitors' trademarks as keywords, so long as they don't appear in the ad text itself. Previously Google used a more restrictive policy in the UK, not allowing use of competitors' trademarks at all. Last month the company changed its UK rules to conform to...

See Related Stories In: Google: AdWords, Google: Legal, Google: Outside US, Legal: Trademarks

Apr. 24, 2008 at 8:45am by Barry Schwartz

Google Finally Hands Over Alleged Pedophiles' Profiles On Orkut To Brazilian Authorities

Google hands over data on suspected pedophiles to Brazil via the AFP reports Google has finally handed over profiles of suspected pedophiles to Brazilian authorities. As expected, Google did hand over 3,261 files with information about alleged pedophilia activities in Google's Orkut communities. A member of the senate commission, Demostenes...

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal, Google: Orkut, Google: Outside US, Legal: Privacy

Apr. 23, 2008 at 9:16am by Greg Sterling

Google Sued For Undesired AdSense Inclusion

Google is being sued by a man represented by a law firm that has successfully sued Google several times in the past. The firm is Kabateck Brown Kellner and the man is David Almeida, a local businessman from Massachusetts who claims that Google's sign up process for AdWords wrongly conceals...

See Related Stories In: Google: AdSense, Google: Legal, Legal: General

Apr. 10, 2008 at 9:44am by Barry Schwartz

90-Percent Of Pedophilia Complaints In Brazil Come From Google's Orkut

Brazil Senate orders Google to identify website pedophiles via AFP reports a Brazilian Senate has ordered Google to hand over the profiles of 3,261 suspected pedophiles yesterday. However, according to The Inquirer, Google is willing to help Brazilian authorities but not hand over users' personal information. Sergio Suiama, Sao Paulo's...

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal, Google: Orkut, Legal: General, Legal: Privacy

Mar. 11, 2008 at 8:54am by Barry Schwartz

Judge Denies Punitive Damages In Viacom Vs. YouTube Case

Viacom Denied Punitive Damages In YouTube Suit from the Silicon Valley Insider reports a US District Court has denied Viacom's request for punitive damages against Google over the YouTube copyright claims. Judge Louis Stanton said "common-law punitive damages cannot be recovered under the Copyright Act," and denied Viacom's action against...

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal, Google: YouTube & Video, Legal: Copyright

Mar. 7, 2008 at 2:33pm by Barry Schwartz

Utah Neuters Search Ad Trademark Keyword Law

The Google Public Policy Blog informed us that Utah has changed the law that restricted search engines from triggering ads based on trademarked terms. This reversal now puts Utah in sync with the precedent set forth by the federal trademark law. In short, you can now legally bid on trademarked...

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal, Legal: Trademarks

Feb. 27, 2008 at 10:04am by Barry Schwartz

EFF Sues DOJ Over Googler For Correspondence With Horvath

Group Sues Justice for Google Contacts from Washington Post reports that the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed suit against a former Googler. The EFF want to know what was said between Google and Jane Horvath, a former US Justice Department privacy lawyer who now works for Google. The suit was filed...

See Related Stories In: Google: Employees, Google: Legal, Legal: Privacy

Feb. 20, 2008 at 9:07am by Barry Schwartz

Microsoft & Google Sued Over Paid Search Patent Infringement

Google And Microsoft Sued For Patent Infringement from MediaPost reports Google and Microsoft were sued for patent infringement over their paid search platforms. A Ohio based company named Paid Search Engine Tools of Liberty Township said Google's AdWords and Microsoft's adCenter products infringe on their patent, "Paid search engine bid...

See Related Stories In: Google: AdWords, Google: Legal, Legal: General, Microsoft: Business Issues, Microsoft: adCenter

Feb. 18, 2008 at 8:58am by Barry Schwartz

Google Helps In Child Porn Bust In United States

Former Batesburg-Leesville High teacher indicted in internet bust from WISTV.com reports a high-school teacher was indicted for distributing and soliciting child pornography on Google-owned Hello.com. Hello.com is a site that allows users to chat in real-time while exchanging photos. Timothy Lynn Brumit, a 47-year old high school teacher in Batesburg-Leesville,...

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal, Legal: Privacy

Feb. 18, 2008 at 8:15am by Barry Schwartz

Google Contractor Sues Google Over Google Sky Layer

Lawsuit claims Google stole idea for Sky layer in Earth from News.com reports a Google contractor named Jonathan Cobb is suing Google for allegedly stealing a Sky layer idea from him. Sky layers are data in both graphical and textual form that are used in Google Earth. Jonathan Cobb filed...

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal

Feb. 15, 2008 at 8:35am by Barry Schwartz

Porn Company Wants Google & Yahoo To Protect Kids From Pornography

Porn studio wants Google, Yahoo to protect kids from adult video from the AFP reports Steven Hirsch, the co-founder of Vivid Entertainment, a pornography company, wants Google and Yahoo to do more in protecting children from accessing pornographic content. Steven Hirsch said: None of the search engines and portals, but...

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal, Legal: Censorship, Legal: General, Yahoo: Legal

Feb. 11, 2008 at 9:05am by Barry Schwartz

Google Wins Upside Down Social Security Number Privacy Lawsuit

Eric Goldman reports Google has won the Jayne v. Google Founders lawsuit (PDF). The suit was filed by Dylan Stephen Jayne against Google for $5 billion. Jayne claimed when you turn his social security number upside down, it spelled Google. In any event, a United States court of appeals for...

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal, Legal: Privacy

Feb. 4, 2008 at 4:51pm by Chris Sherman

Google Files Screenshots Of Compensation Tool With SEC

As a publicly traded company, Google is required to disclose certain types of information related to its employment and compensation practices to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which then makes the documents public. Google today submitted screenshots of a compensation tool available to Google staffing employees and certain employment...

See Related Stories In: Google: Employees, Google: Legal

Jan. 7, 2008 at 9:47am by Barry Schwartz

Google, AOL, Yahoo, & Digg Sued For Playing Online Solitaire

Digg And Others Sued For Infringing Infamous Computer Solitaire Patent from Techdirt reports Google, Yahoo, AOL, and even Digg were all sued by Sheldon F. Goldberg for patent infringement of US Patent 6,264,560. The Electronic Frontier Foundation calls Sheldon a wanted person who has crimes against the public domain for...

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal, Legal: Patents, Yahoo: Legal

Dec. 26, 2007 at 3:04pm by Barry Schwartz

US Appeals Court Give Google AdSense Patent Victory But Autolink Still Under Question

U.S. appeals court hands Google patent case setback from Reuters reports a US appeals court has partially overturned the initial ruling in Google favor in a patent infringement case filed by Hyperphrase Technologies, LLC. The court supported the initial ruling that AdSense did not infringe on Hyperphrase patents, but it...

See Related Stories In: Google: AdSense, Google: Legal, Google: Toolbar, Legal: Patents

Dec. 26, 2007 at 8:31am by Barry Schwartz

Google Reader Share With Friends Feature Causes Privacy Concerns

Google Reader shares private data, ruins Christmas from Felipe Hoffa has a detailed rundown of the user complaints with Google Reader's new share with friends feature. Felipe writes, "One week ago Google Reader's team decided to begin showing your private data to all your GMail contacts. No need to opt-in,...

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal, Google: Reader, Legal: Privacy

Dec. 26, 2007 at 8:07am by Barry Schwartz

Chinese Court Dismisses Guge Vs. Google Case

Lawsuit Over Google's Chinese Name Dismissed from Pacific Epoch reports a Chinese court has dismissed the Guge and Google case, which began earlier this month. The Haidian People's Court in Beijing dismissed the case today. It was dismissed because Google used "Gu Ge" on April 12, 2006, which was seven...

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal

Dec. 20, 2007 at 9:18am by Barry Schwartz

Google, Yahoo, & Microsoft To Pay $31.5M For Illegal Gambling Ads

Microsoft, Google, Yahoo to Pay $31.5M Over Illegal Gambling Ads from ABC News reports the big three search engine companies settled with the US Justice Department to pay $31.5 million to educate that online gambling is illegal in the United States. Microsoft is paying the most with $21 million, followed...

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal, Legal: General, Microsoft: Business Issues, Yahoo: Legal

Dec. 14, 2007 at 9:10am by Barry Schwartz

Guge Vs. Google Chinese Court Hearing Begins

Chinese Company Takes Google to Court from the AP reports the case between Guge and Google has begun this week. Beijing's Guge Sci-Tech Co. took Google China to court for infringement over their name. Guge Sci-Tech Co. registered the name on April 19, 2006 with Beijing Municipal Industrial and Commercial...

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal

Dec. 5, 2007 at 8:50am by Barry Schwartz

German Pornography Site Calls Google A Porn Site Too, Urges Court To Block It

Arcor to block Google from heise online reports Huch Medien, the operator of a erotic site Amateurstar.de, has filed in a German court to have Arcor, Germany's second-biggest telecom company, to block Google because Google Images is showing pornographic content without an age verification test....

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal, Legal: General

Nov. 27, 2007 at 8:55am by Barry Schwartz

Google Israel Forced To Hand Over Blogger's IP Address To Court

Philipp Lenssen reports via Ben Ari's blog that an Israeli court has compelled Google to hand over the IP address of a Blogger account. The conditions of this require that the blogger, who allegedly committed slander, not reply to an anonymous email to reply to the motion. Since this blogger...

See Related Stories In: Google: Legal, Legal: Privacy

Nov. 27, 2007 at 8:55am

Google Israel Forced To Hand Over Blogger's IP Address To Court

Nov. 21, 2007 at 8:06am

Google On Everyone's Lips: A Trademark Nightmare?

Nov. 16, 2007 at 9:39am

Google To Defend Against "Selling Top Spot" In June 2008

Nov. 12, 2007 at 10:24am

Google Won't Hand Over Competitive Data If Hit With Subpoena

Nov. 12, 2007 at 9:14am

Northeastern University Sues Google Over Index Database Design

Nov. 1, 2007 at 8:50am

Google Sends Speakers To FTC Town Hall Meeting On Behavioral Advertising

Oct. 29, 2007 at 10:33am

Viacom And Google Reprimanded By Frustrated Judge

Oct. 26, 2007 at 8:13am

Judge Rejects Google's Motion To Dismiss American Airlines Suit

Oct. 19, 2007 at 8:28am

Viacom May Want To Work With Google In Future

Oct. 18, 2007 at 9:01am

Viacom Will Still Sue Google, Despite YouTube Piracy Filter

Oct. 15, 2007 at 3:52pm

Google to Launch YouTube Piracy Filter Today

Oct. 8, 2007 at 9:35am

Court Reinstates Google Age Discrimination Suit

Oct. 3, 2007 at 9:49am

AOL, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo Sued Over Competitive Bidding Patent

Oct. 3, 2007 at 9:06am

Google Ordered To Pay $14,000 In Germany Over Gmail Trademark

Oct. 2, 2007 at 8:55am

German Data Protection Commissioner Opposes Google-DoubleClick Deal

Sep. 25, 2007 at 9:00am

Privacy Tuesday: New Google Privacy Video & Privacy Articles

Sep. 24, 2007 at 10:25am

Google Asks Judge To Deny Boarding To American Airlines Lawsuit

Sep. 21, 2007 at 9:15am

How Do You Spell Google? Man Files Suit Saying It's His Social Security Number, Upside Down

Sep. 14, 2007 at 1:08pm

Google Calls For International Privacy Standards

Sep. 10, 2007 at 10:13am

Australian Watchdog Has Day In Court Over Google "Selling Top Spot"

Sep. 3, 2007 at 3:04pm

Google Victory In American Blinds Settlement Over Trademark-Triggered Search Ads

Aug. 29, 2007 at 9:30am

CCIA, Google & Microsoft Launch "Defend Fair Use" Web Site

Aug. 23, 2007 at 9:09am

Brazil Says Google Still Not Cooperating Over Illegal Orkut Activities

Aug. 17, 2007 at 8:39am

Google Sued For Trademark Infringement By American Airlines Over Sponsored Ads

Aug. 7, 2007 at 9:20am

More Join YouTube Class Action Suit Copyright

Aug. 1, 2007 at 8:28am

Google, Microsoft & Others Want Copyright Warnings To Be Clearer

Jul. 25, 2007 at 1:37pm

Advocacy Group Sues Over North Carolina's Incentives To Woo Google

Jul. 19, 2007 at 8:43am

House & Senate To Review Google's Acquisition Of DoubleClick

Jul. 16, 2007 at 6:49pm

Google Shortens Cookie Expiration Date

Jul. 13, 2007 at 10:46am

Google's Schmidt: Viacom, A Company Built From Lawsuits

Jul. 13, 2007 at 8:48am

Chinese Company, Guge, Sues Google Over Name

Jul. 12, 2007 at 8:42am

Australian Watchdog Sues Google Over Deceptive Search Ads

Jul. 11, 2007 at 10:07am

Want To See The Latest Movies For Free? Use Google Video, Complains Watch Group

Jul. 6, 2007 at 8:02am

Want Competitive Keyword Information? Just Subpoena Google!

Jul. 3, 2007 at 1:45pm

Google Asks For Formal Role In Microsoft Anti-Trust Dispute

Jul. 3, 2007 at 9:12am

European Consumer Rights Group Joins Others In Opposition Of DoubleClick Acquisition

Jul. 3, 2007 at 9:05am

Google Appeals Belgium Newspaper Case Ruling

Jul. 2, 2007 at 9:28am

Had Sex On A Beach? That Ain't Private, Brazilian Judge Tells Cicarelli In YouTube Case

Jun. 29, 2007 at 9:39am

Google Sued In UK For Defamatory Postings In Search Results

Jun. 28, 2007 at 10:29am

Lawsuit: Google's AdSense For Domains Program Contributes To Trademark Infringement

Jun. 26, 2007 at 9:09am

Google Wants DOJ To Continue Microsoft Antitrust Restrictions

Jun. 25, 2007 at 8:49am

Germany Rules Against Google On Gmail Trademark, Gmail In Germany To Shut Down?

Jun. 20, 2007 at 9:15am

Microsoft To Change Desktop Search In Vista Over Google Antitrust Claim

Jun. 18, 2007 at 6:09am

Google Launches Public Policy Blog

Jun. 11, 2007 at 9:37am

Google Claims Antitrust Foul Over Microsoft's Desktop Search In Vista

Jun. 7, 2007 at 9:30am

Privacy Group Amends FTC Complaint Over Google/DoubleClick Acquisition

Jun. 1, 2007 at 9:15am

Schmidt Calls Viacom's $1B Lawsuit "Just A Mistake"

May. 29, 2007 at 8:09am

Federal Trade Commission Opens Antitrust Investigation Over Google's DoubleClick Deal

May. 25, 2007 at 9:02am

European Union Questions Google's Data Retention Policy

May. 16, 2007 at 1:37pm

Court Reverses Preliminary Injunction Against Google Showing Thumbnail Images

May. 11, 2007 at 8:49am

Court Says It's OK To 'Google' Your Employees

May. 11, 2007 at 8:31am

Thailand Changes Mind, Won't Sue Google Over Insulting King

May. 7, 2007 at 9:38am

More YouTube Woes

May. 3, 2007 at 8:24am

Belgian Papers Back In Google; Begin Using Standards For Blocking

May. 1, 2007 at 8:08am

Google Responds To Viacom Case: Bring On The Jury

Apr. 25, 2007 at 11:18am

Google: Sued Again Over "Bad" Listing

Apr. 23, 2007 at 9:11am

Google Earth Gets Darfur Crisis Info, But Ban Prevents Downloads In Sudan

Apr. 20, 2007 at 3:25pm

Battelle Chats With Microsoft's General Counsel On Google/DoubleClick Antitrust Allegations

Apr. 20, 2007 at 12:11pm

Complaint Over Google-DoubleClick Acqusition Expected To Be Filed At FTC Today

Apr. 20, 2007 at 9:51am

SES NY: Click Fraud Remains A Contentious Issue

Apr. 19, 2007 at 11:07am

EU Group May Serve Google With Letter Over Data Retention Policies

Apr. 18, 2007 at 9:41pm

American Blinds Suit Against Google Over Trademarks To Go To Trial

Apr. 12, 2007 at 7:10am

Utah Law Limiting Use Of Keyword Advertising

Apr. 6, 2007 at 8:52am

Google China Releases Labs Product Very Similar To Sohu.com's Sogou

Apr. 6, 2007 at 8:40am

No Win Against Google For Party That Opted-Out Of Click Fraud Settlement

Mar. 23, 2007 at 10:52am

Court: Google Suggest Feature Not Responsible For Encouraging Software Piracy

Mar. 21, 2007 at 8:49am

Google Wins KinderStart Case Over Site Penalty

Mar. 14, 2007 at 10:04am

The Big Viacom Sues GOOG & YouTube Roundup

Mar. 13, 2007 at 9:54am

Viacom Sues Google For $1 Billion Over Unauthorized Videos

Mar. 8, 2007 at 9:25am

Google Wins Google Earth Patent Case

Mar. 8, 2007 at 9:19am

Mark Cuban Subpoenas Google Over YouTube Videos

Mar. 7, 2007 at 9:34am

YouTube Blocked In Turkey

Mar. 1, 2007 at 12:00am

Google: Click Fraud Is 0.02% Of Clicks

Feb. 27, 2007 at 9:31am

Search Engines Do Not Have To Display All Ads Says Court

Feb. 22, 2007 at 9:18am

Google To Launch YouTube Content Identification System Soon

Feb. 22, 2007 at 9:03am

Google Shuts Down Blogger After Threats To New Zealand Politician

Feb. 19, 2007 at 9:15am

Google Sues Group Of Polish Poets Over Gmail.pl Name

Feb. 15, 2007 at 9:22am

Electronic Frontier Foundation To Protect Some YouTube Users Over Viacom's DMCA Claims

Feb. 13, 2007 at 7:03am

Google Loses In Belgium Newspaper Case

Feb. 12, 2007 at 9:10am

Google Accused Of Profiting On Film Piracy: Discussions Continue

Feb. 5, 2007 at 8:24am

YouTube Pulls Videos That May Not Violate DMCA Law

Feb. 2, 2007 at 11:01am

Viacom Tells Google's YouTube To Remove Videos

Jan. 31, 2007 at 10:24am

Google Can't Use "Gmail" Name In Europe

Jan. 31, 2007 at 9:07am

Google, Microsoft, & Yahoo Ask For Help With International Censorship

Jan. 25, 2007 at 9:07am

Fox Subpoenas Google's YouTube For Identity Of User Who Uploaded "24" Video

Jan. 24, 2007 at 9:38am

Norwegian Data Inspectorate To Investigate Privacy Issues With Google

Jan. 19, 2007 at 9:50am

Google, Microsoft & Yahoo To Develop NGO Conduct Code

Jan. 4, 2007 at 10:01am

YouTube Forced To Shut Down In Brazil

Jan. 3, 2007 at 9:38am

Intertainer Sues Google For Patent Infringement On Online Video & Audio Distribution

Dec. 25, 2006 at 9:13am

Judge Dismisses Google AdSense & AutoLink Toolbar Lawsuits

Dec. 20, 2006 at 8:30am

Google Search History Used To Send Wireless Hacker To Prison

Dec. 18, 2006 at 9:27am

Trademark Infringement Case Against Yahoo In Google AdWords Dismissed