February 13th, 2007
Google hit by Belgian court re freedom of info
This is from a Minyanville wire:
The WSJ reports that a Belgian court has ruled against Google (GOOG) in a copyright infringement case, stating that the internet behemoth violated the country’s copyright laws when it published pieces and links from newspapers without permission.
Google has been ordered to remove the material and pay €25,000 ($32,500) per day the illegal content remains. The fines are retroactive, meaning GOOG must pay for every day the content has been up, ringing the bill up to a daily-increasing €3.45 million.
The case represents a movement towards copyright protection that may take a direct shot at Google’s attempts to make internet information free to all.
