A French court has ruled that Google is guilty of anti-competitive behaviour because it offers its Maps service for free.
Google must pay a French company damages over its free Google Maps service. Image credit: Don Reisinger/CNET
Google France and its parent company Google must pay plaintiff Bottin Cartographes €500,000 (£415,700) for providing its free mapping services to businesses across the country, a court in Paris ruled earlier this week. It also required Google to pay a €15,000 fine for the practice.
"We proved the illegality of (Google's) strategy to remove its competitors," Jean-David Scemmama, attorney for Bottin Cartographes, a company that provides mapping services to businesses, told the AFP. "The court recognized the unfair and abusive character of the methods used, and allocated Bottin Cartographes all it claimed. This is the first time Google has been convicted for its Google Maps application."
In a statement to the AFP, Google said that it will appeal the court's decision, adding that Google Maps is still facing competition in that market.
For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Google must pay $660,000 for offering Google Maps for free on CNET News.
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Talkback
Seemingly a very strange decision, even perverse. Mind you, the basis of the decision is hardly explained here or in Cnet. Perhaps we will hear in due course. Is it that Google must charge in commercial situations? And where do Bottin Cartographes get their maps from? Certainly I have a friend who requires to purchase Ordinance survey maps and pay for additional copies he makes, but they are very different from Google maps which would not serve his purpose.