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http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/02/french-court-fines-google-france-500-000-euros-for-gratis-maps/
In France, Google stop charging 10,000 Euros and started giving away Google Maps to businesses (up to a certain amount of traffic), whereas competitors charge for theirs. They sued, and were fined 500,000 Euros in damages to the plaintiff, a competitor, for anti-competitive practices.
According to the comments, France does this sort of thing all the time. They try to limit foreign products while allowing French stuff free reign.
Here's an example of the competition, BTW. No, you have not actually been thrown back to 2001, it just looks that way. I'm betting the site's code is optimized for IE5 and Netscape Navigator.
Mind you, this is the same France that fined Google for accidentally collecting wi-fi info on its Street View vehicles. Specifically, accidentally collecting personal information. I'm not sure of the technical aspects, but the agency in question also asked for their Source Code, which is the equivalent of suing KFC over contaminants found in its food, and asking for the Secret Recipe.
In France, Google stop charging 10,000 Euros and started giving away Google Maps to businesses (up to a certain amount of traffic), whereas competitors charge for theirs. They sued, and were fined 500,000 Euros in damages to the plaintiff, a competitor, for anti-competitive practices.
According to the comments, France does this sort of thing all the time. They try to limit foreign products while allowing French stuff free reign.
Here's an example of the competition, BTW. No, you have not actually been thrown back to 2001, it just looks that way. I'm betting the site's code is optimized for IE5 and Netscape Navigator.
Mind you, this is the same France that fined Google for accidentally collecting wi-fi info on its Street View vehicles. Specifically, accidentally collecting personal information. I'm not sure of the technical aspects, but the agency in question also asked for their Source Code, which is the equivalent of suing KFC over contaminants found in its food, and asking for the Secret Recipe.