Belgian newspapers block Google News
Bad news for the hordes of Belgian news junkies: The WSJ.com reports that Belgian newspaper Copiepresse has won a court order blocking Google from running headlines and links in the Belgian version of its Google News service. Should the search engine not comply within ten days, it will have to pay out a million euros a day.
The debate over "fair use" has been around for ages, of course, and blogland is quick to ridicule the Belgian paper as being just another reactionary publisher, out of step with the times. "One of these days," writes TechDirt, "perhaps, both courts and publishers will learn that having someone link to you is a good thing, especially when it's a site that people go to in order to look for exactly the type of content you produce." Probably true, though you can't blame the Belgians for being a bit defensive, and exactly what constitutes "fair use" may not be quite as cut-and-dry as U.S. bloggers would have it. Mainly, it's nice to see someone other than the French taking a vaguely irrational stand against U.S. tech dominance. The problem with some foreign companies is that they don't recognize the value of 3rd party validation and/or traffic generation.
If Google News published the entire contents of our site www.Mousepad.com with a link to our site (siting the source)not only would we be extatic, we would thank them officially and unofficially. I guess the Belgian paper (Copiepresse) thinks that if someone reads the news from Google News, they will not buy their paper. Wake up and smell the synergystic coffe Copiepresse. Just my humble opinion. You may quote me if you like "Copiepresse"!! Diran 
CNNMoney.com Comment Policy: CNNMoney.com encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. Please note that CNNMoney.com makes reasonable efforts to review all comments prior to posting and CNNMoney.com may edit comments for clarity or to keep out questionable or off-topic material. All comments should be relevant to the post and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. By submitting your comment, you hereby give CNNMoney.com the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying information via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. CNNMoney.com Privacy Statement.
|
|
| 
