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France Archive

Friday

9

March 2012

0

COMMENTS

Google Fined for Being Too Useful

Written by , Posted in Free Markets

In the world of big government, providing something of use to consumers is to be frowned upon:

Google has been ordered to pay a fine and damages to a French mapping company after a court ruled that the search giant was guilty of unfair competition and “undercutting competitors” by making its Google Maps program free.

According to Agence France Presse (AFP), Bottin Cartographes, a French mapping company that provides essentially the same service as Google Maps for a fee – brought a suit claiming that Google was “abusing” its dominant position by making its service free.

Google’s strategy is, apparently, to undercut competitors by “temporarily swallowing the full cost until it gains control of the market,” AFP reported.

A Paris-based commercial court agreed with Bottin Cartographes and ordered Google to pay 500,000 euro (£415,000) damages to Bottin Cartographes, as well as a fine of 15,000 euro (£12,500).

“We proved the illegality of Google’s strategy to remove its competitors,” said Jean-David Scemmama, Bottin Cartographes’ lawyer. “The court recognised the unfair and abusive character of the methods used and allocated Bottin Cartographes all it claimed.”

This sort of thing is hardly unique to France. The US as very similar, and similarly stupid, laws on the books. But this case really puts the lie to advocates of protectionist policies who claim they are for the consumer. They are not. They are for shafting the consumer.

Look at the language they use and how deceptive is. They mask their protectionist, anti-consumer agenda under the rhetoric of competition. But this has nothing to do with competition. If you assume their logic to be true (which is unwarranted, as there as been zero indication that Google ever intends to charge for Google Maps), there will still always be competitive pressure. So long as another firm can enter the market at any time to offer a competing service, Google will have to offer market competitive prices. The only way to perpetually keep out competition is either to use the force of government, or to perpetually price below market – in other words, by keeping it free. How in the world is the latter possibly a bad thing for consumers, the economy or society?

Tuesday

19

January 2010

0

COMMENTS

Just To Illustrate The Point

Written by , Posted in Foreign Affairs & Policy

While the difficulties continue to mount in Haiti, tough policy choices will have to be made.  Do we send in more troops to create order?  No matter what we do, it’s clear some will never be pleased:

The United States is using the humanitarian crisis in Haiti as an excuse to occupy the earthquake-hit island nation, two of Washington’s most vocal leftist critics in Latin America implied at the weekend.

“What is happening in Haiti seriously concerns me as U.S. troops have already taken control of the airport,” Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said late Friday.

Did Obama’s betrayal of democracy in Honduras buy us nothing with these dictators? Sheesh.

Even our real allies are complaining about a supposed “occupation.”  This just goes to show that in the international arena, no good Americandeed goes unpunished.

Thursday

7

January 2010

0

COMMENTS

France Reaches For Google’s Pockets

Written by , Posted in Taxes

Another successful business targeted for taxation.  It’s like the statists don’t want people to be successful:

The proposal, outlined in a government-commissioned survey, has set the scene for a new Gallic run-in with Google – fast becoming the global internet behemoth the world loves to hate.

The levy on advertising revenue is the latest plank in France’s drive to regulate the internet, which has seen it enact some of the world’s toughest antipiracy legislation.

…Guillaume Cerutti, one of the authors of the report said the tax would put an end to “enrichment without any limit or compensation”.

Huh?  Google provides a service.  The only people looking for enrichment without limit or compensation are the big government statists like Guillaume Cerutti, who want to take from the productive sector without providing any value of their own.

Not that I feel much sympathy for Google, which is notorious for supporting France-style big government right here in the U.S.  But I’m also confident that, as the successful search giant is increasingly turned upon by its supposed leftwing allies (because they really do hate any business that is successful), it will realize the error of its ways.

Sunday

23

August 2009

0

COMMENTS

An Overseas Demonstration Of Bad Law Making

Written by , Posted in Big Government

This is bad law making:

Tourists in Italy and France could be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even jailed, for buying knockoff items, lawyers are warning.

The countries have recently introduced tougher penalties for both the sellers and buyers of counterfeit goods.

In France those caught buying fake designer clothes, sunglasses, sports gear, handbags and watches could end up paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines or be sentenced to three years in prison.

There is much debate over intellectual property rights.  My view is that they are worth defending, but many laws go overboard in doing so.  This is certainly one such example.

Punishing people who buy “knock-offs” is ridiculous.  It is not the buyer’s responsibility to ensure that the seller has complied with the law.  The same logic would have buyers punished for purchasing products made with illegal child labor, or from companies that emit too much pollution.

It is an extraordinary burden placed on buyers to expect them to do this level of research on a product.  If I see a nice shirt at a price I want to pay, I shouldn’t have to risk jail because it turned out to be a “knock-off” of some overpriced designer that I’ve never heard of.