Google convicted in French copyright case

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

A Paris court has convicted Google Inc. in a copyright infringement case over online publication of French books.

A judge ruled Friday that the U.S. Internet search giant must pay €300,000 ($430,000) in damages and interest to French publisher La Martiniere.

Google was also ordered to pay €10,000 per day until it removes extracts of the French books from its online database.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jC-SJim2fUAMvWXSpZ9g78gwYNDQD9CLNTIO0

[AndyA]

1. Google may be getting too big for its britches.

There are now some serious privacy concerns regarding Google. I've switched over to Bing because of it, and the results in some cases are better than the Big G's. Bing seems to have new sites listed faster than Google.

Plus, I'm not sure how I feel about "Big Brother Google" watching every move I make on the internet. And what will they do with all that information? If not now, later on?

[Robb]

2. I like how you somehow assume Microsoft will address your privacy concerns better. nt

[AndyA]

3. The switch to Bing was to even out the search engine traffic a bit better.

Competition is good.

If you understood the kind of information Google is now collecting on EVERYONE, you would not have made your comment. I assumed nothing. Many, many webmasters are very upset at how their site visitors are being tracked by Google. And many of them are now recommending Bing instead.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. I tried Bing exactly once. Results sucked ass.

Three keywords, it completely ignored one of them -- exactly the one that made the search nontrivial.

The Google search gave me exactly what I was after.

[AndyA]

6. There are many who depend on the web for a living that disagree with you.

I can tell you for a fact that Bings "freshness" is much better than Google's. Old established sites that I visit have new pages listed faster in Bing and Yahoo than in Google.

If your data is stale, it's no good.

I've had a good experience with Bing.

Linux is the underdog, and it is not without issues as well.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

7. Wasn't an issue in my searches. The issue was guessing what's important based on your search words.

And in that, Google runs rings around Bing. Case in point: Searching for "maher new rules" (with no quotes).

Google gives, as first result, the actual page for the New Rules on HBO. Bing lists it in fifth place. The first four links are for Bill Maher stuff that's not New Rules related.

In the query I tried, it was the same problem, but even worse: the page I wanted didn't appear anywhere. The fact is, Google's search is smarter. And, more often than not, it makes all the difference.

About the "freshness", it may be because Google indexes more sites.

[AndyA]

11. Hang around a few webmaster forums if you want the real scoop on Google.

Those same webmasters made Google what it is today, they promoted Google when no one heard about it.

Some of them say Google is about to go the way of Alta Vista, which at one time was the dominant search engine.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

5. Oh, by the way, if you're into fostering competition in IT, use Linux.

It holds up to Windows MUCH better than Bing holds up to Google.

[Xithras]

9. You do know that the "privacy concerns" only exist if you create a Google account...right?

If you are looking at Google and see that little "Sign In" line in the upper right, they have NO IDEA who you are and can't track you anywhere. The only people who can be tracked are those who create GMail accounts, run Chrome, and keep themselves logged in all the time...aka, those who choose to identify themselves to Google.

[NashVegas]

8. A Showdown Is Coming

Between content producers who rely on their skills and talents for a living and the technocrats who, in their quest to eliminate the middlemen, have become the middleman.

[alp227]

10. There ain't no free lunch

Google should've arranged properly for copyright permissions. It'd be much better paying for the proper permission than a legal settlement.