Around the Net
Google's French Deal May Do More Harm Than Good
- GigaOm, Monday, February 4, 2013 4:02 PM
After much diplomatic maneuvering and a series of face-saving gestures on both sides, Google finally signed an agreement with French newspaper publishers late Friday that puts to rest a long-standing legal battle over Google’s behavior in excerpting stories on Google News, which the French have argued is copyright infringement. But while the search giant may be relieved to put the whole kerfuffle behind it, there’s an argument to be made that it has actually done more harm than good — not only to its own interests, but to the interests of the open web as well.
