So 2 decisions from the French legal system should leave people in the rest of the world scratching their heads. I love France and the French people. The French system of law stemming from Napoleon is incorporated into many different legal systems around the world including one could argue the USA. However these decisions will leave a lot of people wondering how they are able to operate.
Decision 1 – Let off the EADS and 17 of its current and former staffers and let them go scott free. A great piece can be found in the Financial Times:
Essentially the AMF (French Stock Market Regulator) found 7 of the group including former Co-CEO (and Frenchman) Noel Forgeard and recommended to the enforcement agency fines of 12 million Euros and various other enforcement actions. The final committee of mandarins however disagreed and on a very flimsy set of reasoning and excuses let everyone off. (mind you and an aside – this form of behavior is a mere pittance compared to the likes of some of the more recent US based fraudsters).
Decision 2 – Convict Google of Copyright infringement. According to various media reports a French court found Google Inc. guilty of copyright infringement for scanning books and putting extracts online without a publisher's consent. This will likely put a dent into the Web Giant’s plans for a library for all online. Google said it will comply for now while it appeals. The court awarded Euros 300K to a French Publisher and ordered the content removed.
So you watch yourself when you do business in France. It would appear they do tend to favor themselves. And to all Peoples around the world (including the French) Joyeux Noel!
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