French mapping firm wins $660,000 damage against Google
Paris, France (AHN) – A French mapping company claiming to have suffered business losses because of Google’s free online maps has won $660,000 in damages from the search engine giant.
A commercial court in Paris found Google France and Google Inc. guilty of unfair competition and ordered them to pay the amount to Bottin Cartographes on Tuesday. The court also fined the U.S. company and its local unit $20,000.
The decision came two years after Bottin sued Google France, according to the company’s lawyer, Jean-David Scemmama.
In its suit, Botting claimed that Google’s strategy to gain control of the market was to temporarily absorb the full cost of mapping service.
Google France said it will appeal the court ruling. A spokesperson of the company said that the Google Map application benefits Internet users and that competition still exists.
It was not the first time that Google France was fined by a local court for unfair competition. In March, it was fined more than $131,000 for collecting private data with its Street View technology.
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