Overlawyered » Google http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:28:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Free Google Maps unfair to paid competitors, France rules http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/free-google-maps-unfair-to-paid-competitors-france-rules/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/free-google-maps-unfair-to-paid-competitors-france-rules/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:23:13 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27343 At Cato at Liberty, I find that uncannily reminiscent of a famous Bastiat parody (& IEA).

More from Coyote: “left unsaid is how they would jack up their prices when at least two other companies (Bing, Mapquest) also provide mapping services online for free.” But note that the French case arose not from Google’s furnishing of its free map service to individual end customers, but from its furnishing of its map API to businesses that typically adapt it for use in their own sites; as commenters at BoingBoing and Reddit as well as news reports point out, Google has indeed introduced fees for its largest business users of this type (which has caused some of them to adapt by switching from Google’s API to OpenStreetMap, a free wiki-based map service).

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2012/02/free-google-maps-unfair-to-paid-competitors-france-rules/feed/ 3 Punishing Google’s success http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/punishing-googles-success/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/punishing-googles-success/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:40:36 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26368 Rivals are pushing for the Federal Trade Commission to take more aggressive antitrust action against the search company, and have now enlisted Sens. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) in their cause. [Geoffrey Manne, Jim Miller & Dan Oliver/NRO, Coyote]

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/punishing-googles-success/feed/ 3 Suing Google over search results http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/suing-google-over-search-results/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/suing-google-over-search-results/#comments Sun, 11 Dec 2011 14:58:35 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26162 Max Mosley, former head of the Formula One racing organization, has been the subject of a number of lurid allegations in the European press. Now he is suing Google in France and Germany, and contemplating suit in California, “in an attempt to force the internet company to monitor and censor search results about” the allegations. “It is understood Google has removed hundreds of references to the defamatory claims after requests from Mosley’s solicitors. However, Mosley is attempting to force Google to monitor its search results so the material never appears” in the first place. [Guardian] More: Above the Law.

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]]> http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/suing-google-over-search-results/feed/ 5 October 13 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-13-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-13-roundup-2/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2011 05:36:49 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25043
  • Behind the antitrust assault on Google [Jerry Brito, Josh Wright, more]
  • Rapid rise of lawsuit lenders [WSJ] And a Searle Civil Justice Institute conference on third party financing of litigation;
  • More law firms muscle into class action against e-book publishers [PaidContent] Fifth Circuit questions cy pres [Trask] And a new edition of the Federalist Society’s Class Action Watch is out;
  • When the house painters announce they’re not leaving: “Britain plans to tighten anti-squatter laws” [NYT]
  • “Courts Call Out Copyright Trolls’ Coercive Business Model, Threaten Sanctions” [EFF] “Righthaven’s Copyright Trolling is a Bankrupt Idea” [Cit Media Law] More: Vegas Inc.
  • “Twombly is the Logical Extension of the Mathews v. Eldridge Test to Discovery” [Andrew Blair-Stanek via Volokh, Frank] “Four more reasons to love TwIqbal” [Beck] “O’Scannlain says 9th Circ has adopted ‘Iqbal lite’ pleading standard, ‘Same insufficient complaints, fewer dismissals!’” [@ScottKGraham on dissent in Starr v. County of Los Angeles, PDF]
  • Florida farms sell raw milk as (wink) “pet food” [Sun-Sentinel]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/october-13-roundup-2/feed/ 1     September 12 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-12-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-12-roundup/#comments Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:37:28 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24482
  • Ninth Circuit: Holland America cruise line not responsible for customer’s swimming mishap at Mexican beach [Metropolitan News-Enterprise]
  • “President Perry would mean high noon for trial lawyers” [Kurt Schlichter, Washington Examiner; Politico; Prof. Bainbridge ("If the trial lawyers hate Rick Perry, maybe I should reconsider him")] Christie praises Perry’s “laudable” record on liability reform [PolitickerNJ] “Perry’s ‘loser pays’ is an economic winner” [Patrick Gleason and Jason Russell, Washington Times; Mass Tort Prof; background] Missing the point on the Texas med-mal experience [Coyote, earlier here, here, etc.] A bad sign: Gov. Perry reaches out to Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio [NRO, background] Another: courting social conservative vote, he pledges interference in state marriage law Houston Chronicle.
  • Alan Lange and Tom Dawson discuss their Dickie Scruggs book [Above the Law, background]
  • Hospital pays $25M to settle lawsuit charging lack of Katrina preparedness [White Coat]
  • Democratic majority on CPSC plans to ram through burdensome CPSIA testing and certification rule next month [Commissioner Nancy Nord, more]
  • For matching willing buyers with sellers through Canadian pharmacy ads, Google agrees to pay fine of $500 million, a forfeiture geared to the revenue the pharmacies (not it) took in from the ads [Atlantic Wire, Chris Fountain]
  • “Woman Won’t Have to Pay for Her Own Cavity Search” [Lowering the Bar]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/09/september-12-roundup/feed/ 3     August 29 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/august-29-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/august-29-roundup-2/#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:44:12 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24306
  • Even before federal raid on Gibson, Lacey Act scared owners of vintage instruments: “I don’t go out of the country with a wooden guitar.” [Eric Felten/WSJ, AW, PoL, Trevor Burrus/Cato]
  • Dear NYT contributor Bakan: getting your kids’ attention may not require overthrowing world corporate economy [Nancy French, NR "Home Front"] More: Sullum.
  • “West Memphis Three” freed [Damon Root, Greenfield]
  • Forest Labs case: after outcry, feds drop effort to force firing of drug company CEO not charged with wrongdoing [WSJ, WLF] Background: Charles Hooper & David Henderson, Hoover (”The FDA’s War on Drugs”), The Economist (”The government seeks to sack an innocent boss”, Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Steve McConnell/Drug and Device Law, Josh Wright/Truth on the Market]
  • Google paid dearly in smartphone deal for our dysfunctional patent system [Gordon Crovitz] “Google Should Publicly Oppose Software Patents” [Timothy Lee, Forbes]
  • Lawyer’s suit: Kasowitz firm ignored his “superior legal mind” [Lowering the Bar, Above the Law]
  • “In Chicago, You Need a License To Help Others Get a License” [Mark Perry]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/08/august-29-roundup-2/feed/ 1     July 7 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/july-7-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/july-7-roundup/#comments Thu, 07 Jul 2011 05:33:12 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23723
  • Correct result, yet potential for mischief in latest SCOTUS climate ruling [Ilya Shapiro/Cato, my earlier take]
  • Wouldn’t even want to guess: how the Howard Stern show handles sexual harassment training [Hyman]
  • Philadelphia: $21 million award against emergency room handling noncompliant patient [Kennerly]
  • Antitrust assault on Google seems geared to protect competitors more than consumers [Josh Wright]
  • “They knew there was a risk!” Curb your indignation please [Coyote]
  • Theme issue of Reason magazine on failures of criminal justice system is now online;
  • “Why Your New Car Doesn’t Have a Spare Tire” [Sam Kazman, WSJ]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/july-7-roundup/feed/ 3     June 27 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/june-27-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/june-27-roundup/#comments Mon, 27 Jun 2011 12:57:27 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23568
  • “Electronic Arts Has Right to Refer to John Dillinger in Its Video Games” [Volokh]
  • Fans of “Civil Gideon” (constitutional entitlement to publicly funded lawyers in civil cases) glum that SCOTUS didn’t give idea much of a boost in Turner v. Rogers case last week [Concurring Opinions symposium, ABA Journal]
  • Feds (in particular, the FTC) go after Google [AW, Manne & Wright/TotM, Stoll]
  • “The Dept of Education, Yale, and the New Threat to Free Speech on Campus” [Greg Lukianoff/HuffPo] “In Making Campuses Safe for Women, a Travesty of Justice for Men” [Christina Sommers, Chron Higher Ed] Feds crack down on campus flirting and sex jokes [Michael Barone, D.C. Examiner] Heather Mac Donald on Yale hostile-environment complaint [City Journal, earlier] “Why Cross-Examination Rights Matter in Campus Sexual Harassment Cases” [Hans Bader]
  • Trial lawyer propaganda coup? HBO airs plaintiff’s-side “Hot Coffee” documentary [Abnormal Use, Ted Frank/PoL, Schwartz/NYT, more, yet more]
  • Financial institutions abroad will be pleased to be roped into U.S. regulatory schemes. Won’t they? [Dan Mitchell, Cato at Liberty]
  • Proposal for judge-guided negotiations in NY med-mal cases leaves Ted Frank underwhelmed [PoL]
  • “Virginia inmate sues after gruesome tries at sex change” [AP]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/june-27-roundup/feed/ 2     Will California regulate social networking? http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/will-california-regulate-social-networking/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/will-california-regulate-social-networking/#comments Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:46:04 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23418 State Senator Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro) has vowed to press the idea, the apparent idea being that the government is a better guardian of privacy interests than Facebook and similar services [Jacqueline Otto, CEI "Open Market"] Meanwhile, Geoffrey Manne reports that the feds are itching to start an antitrust or unfair competition case against Google [Main Justice via Truth on the Market]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/will-california-regulate-social-networking/feed/ 0     Update: “Judge Bars Woman From Suing Over Faulty Google Map” http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/update-judge-bars-woman-from-suing-over-faulty-google-map/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/06/update-judge-bars-woman-from-suing-over-faulty-google-map/#comments Wed, 15 Jun 2011 05:56:56 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=23422 “Finding that Google has no duty to provide accurate content on its website, a Utah judge has thrown out the novel case of a woman who claimed that faulty walking directions on Google Maps caused her to be hit by a car.” [OnPoint News, earlier here, etc.] The same post, updating another story we’ve noted, reports that a bill to make guidebook publishers liable for some injuries to tourists has died in the Hawaii legislature.

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