Press Grinds Google's Gears
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The press corps heaps praise on Google's latest Microsoft Killer. Welcome to the '80s.
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(InfoWorld) - A court forced Google Inc. on Monday to remove all French and German language newspapers published in Belgium from its Google News search service. The order comes after an association of local publishers sued the search engine giant successfully for copyright abuse, Google said Monday.Copiepresse, an organization that helps protect the copyright of some of Belgiumâs best known newspapers including Le Soir and Le Libre Belgique, sued Google for publishing summaries of the newspapersâ stories, along with a link to the newspapersâ own sites.The court warned Google that failure to remove all material from the Belgian newspapers from Google news from Monday would result in daily fines of around US$1 million.The case was heard on Sept. 5 at the Belgian court of first instance but Google claims to have only found out about the court hearing and its outcome last Friday. "We were not able to make our case directly to the judge. We are disappointed by the decision, which we believe is flawed and which we intend to appeal,â said D.J. Collins, a spokesman for Google based in London. Reports earlier Monday claimed that articles from the newspapers were still appearing on the Google News search engine, but none were visible in the early afternoon local time. Collins said his company was complying: "We have removed the relevant sources," he said. Copiepresse wasnât immediately available for comment but in statements to journalists earlier in the day the organizationâs general secretary Margaret Boribon said legal action against Google was necessary because the company was profiting from the work of the newspapers. "We are asking for Google to pay and seek our authorization to use our content," Boribon told news agencies including Reuters. Collins dismissed the case as "entirely unnecessary." "Google has a clear policy of respecting the wishes of content owners. If a newspaper does not want to be part of Google News we remove their content from our index -- all they have to do is ask. There is no need for legal action and all the associated costs," he said. Google News benefits publishers, he added, by making it easier for people to find their content and driving large numbers of users to their Web sites. "It is important to remember that we never show more than the headlines and a few snippets of text. If people want to read the entire story they have to click through to the newspapers' Web site," he said. The case involving the Belgian newspaper publishers is similar to legal action brought against Google by the French national news agency Agence France Presse a year and a half ago. AFP generates revenue by charging fees to news outlets that subscribe to its wire service. In its complaint, AFP charges Google with copyright violation, alleging that, as a nonsubscriber to AFP, Google has no right to include AFP content in Google News. That case is still ongoing.
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These sites employ many different tactics in their efforts to take some of Google's pie. Here's how they stack up.
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Google is sharply criticised in a report looking at the privacy policies of popular net firms.
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Online search upstart Vivisimo is setting out to persuade the masses that Google&#39;s vaunted technology isn&#39;t the most efficient way to find things on the internet.
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I&#8217;m playing the devil&#8217;s advocate here, so keep that in mind in case I end up trampling all over anything you hold dear :) Google has taken a lot of flak on a lot of issues in the past few years - it&#8217;s a price an industry leader invariably has to pay.  Apart from Blogger spam [...]
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MoveOn.org has proven to be a headache for newspapers.
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Google Inc.'s Blogger service has been generating a steady stream of complaints from users this year.
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Plus: Google apps for your site, and HP's pretexting debacle.
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Not too long ago, Google Inc. seemed little more than a pesky insect to Microsoft Corp.&#39;s 800-pound gorilla. No more. As Google rapidly rolls out new products, the
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The new search-engine technology is meant to rival Google. Also: Reebok unveils a new version of the Pump & hellip;.  PeopleSoft still won't settle for Oracle's bid & hellip;. and more.
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Google Answers bites the dust. What else didn't make the cut?
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Google News is getting a sense of  the past to balance out its relentless focus on the present.
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As online advertising continues to put the squeeze on newspaper publishers trying to get ad revenue, Google is looking for innovative methods to cash in on one side of the ad market it has not had much luck penetrating: print.
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Google&#39;s search for a way to become a public company has hit a roadblock the company never expected: investor hesitance.
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Articles from the AP, AFP, U.K. Press Association, and the Canadian Press will appear directly in Google News pages.
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Google blasted for opt-out sharing feature in Google Reader just like Facebook was criticized for Beacon ad service.