Google defeated by Germany
By Davey Winder in Editorial
Posted in Google on
It could be game over as far as the Google Gmail web-based email service is concerned in Germany. Not only has the battle between German venture capitalist Daniel Giersch and Google over the Gmail trademark been settled in favour of Giersch, but the final nail in the coffin as far as Google is concerned might well be a new German law concerning the retention of personal data.
This is not the first time that Google has faced a trademark battle and lost in Europe. Here in the UK it was forced to change from Gmail to Googlemail for that very reason. The data retention law is a different matter though, and really does look like making it a tough call for Google to stay and play with the Germans.
The problem is that this law would seem to require Google to not only obtain the real names and addresses of its Gmail users, but verify them as being genuine as well. Gmail has built its success largely upon the relative ease of getting an account, and the fact that it is anonymous helps this immensely.
According to a news article on the German language Heise Online
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