Google in a French Twist
September 27, 2010
Someone tell me that this fine is a good thing. Every time I read about Google and its adventures in Legal Land, I wonder if there is other news about the company. I read “French Court Orders Google Inc to Pay Libel Damages: Report” and noted this passage:
A French court has ordered Google Inc to pay 5,000 euros ($6,672) in libel damages to a man who claimed that searches for his name automatically yielded a list of harmful suggestions. The man, whose name was not given, said the suggested terms that came up when typing his name on Google.fr — including the words “rape,” “rapist” and “prison” — were damaging for his reputation, court documents showed.
What happens when Google Instant goes so far to generate a list of pages a person finds objectionable. Social content can be quite tricky.
Tough to disassemble. At the right price, easy to nibble
If others step forward and object to suggestions, the Google has one more hassle its clever technology has inadvertently triggered. Math calculations are one thing. Predicting how humans react to Math Club is quite another in my opinion.
Google seems to be caught in one of those fancy French baker confections. From the outside, it is tough to understand how it was done and once twisted, the pastry is tough to detwist.
Stephen E Arnold, September 27, 2010
Freebie and that’s not a suggestion
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