Mar 14, 2012 at 10:11am ET by Greg Sterling

The US FTC has subpoenaed Apple to provide documentation and information about Google's presence on iOS as the default search engine. According to Bloomberg the FTC is also seeking similar information from handset makers and carriers. This arises in the context of the US government's broad anti-trust investigation of Google. These "default search" deals are common and Microsoft has done many of them. Like Spain and Portugal dividing up the "non-Christian world" in 1494 with the Treaty of Tordesillas, default search deals on PCs, browsers and mobile devices are essentially divided up between [...]

Related Topics: Apple | Google: Legal | Google: Mobile | Legal: General | Legal: Regulation

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

Feb 1, 2012 at 4:00pm ET by Matt McGee

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 ruli [...]

Google To Join Anti-SOPA “Blackout Day” With Home Page Protest

Jan 17, 2012 at 4:26pm ET by Greg Sterling

Google has confirmed to several media outlets (initially CNET) that it will join other prominent websites tomorrow, including Wikipedia, in protesting the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) bills. While Wikipedia has said it will go dark, Google will link to anti-SOPA information on its homepage. Still, that information will be seen by millions who otherwise might not know about the legislation. SOPA and PIPA are supported by a range of corporate entities and media companies that elicited these draconian bills from Congress to address global IP piracy, copyright violati [...]

Class Action Lawsuit Against Google For Ads On Parked Domains Turned Down

Jan 9, 2012 at 9:27am ET by Barry Schwartz

paidContent reports the lawsuit brought against Google in 2008 over quality of ads showing on parked or error message web pages has been thrown out by the court. On Thursday, January 5th, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila turned down the class action suit brought against Google. He said he would not allow the suit because "it was more appropriate for companies who had bought the ads to show any alleged harm on an individual basis," according to paidContent. Here is the 25-page court document with the ruling: Google Parked Domain Class Actionvar docstoc_docid="110404116";var docstoc_t [...]

US Gov’t Takes Baidu Off The “Notorious Markets” Black List

Dec 21, 2011 at 10:04am ET by Greg Sterling

China has historically been the land of copyright and trademark infringement of Western software, goods and other intellectual property -- and Chinese websites such as Baidu and Taobao its willing handmaidens. In February of this year the US trade authority named Baidu one of the world’s “notorious markets” because it was seen facilitating copyright infringement. Here's what the US Trade Representative said in February: Baidu exemplifies the problem of online services engaged in “deep linking,” which provide links to online locations containing the allegedly infringing materials [...]

Related Topics: Baidu | Legal: Copyright | Legal: General | Legal: Regulation

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