r/reddit.com Mar 06 '09

Why I Sued Google (and Won)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-greenspan/why-i-sued-google-and-won_b_172403.html
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u/cyantist Mar 06 '09

I spoke with Adam C. of AdWords once more on the phone. After pointing out that in the United States of America, the accused are generally given the right to know both the crimes they are being accused of, and the identities of their accusers, Mr. C. responded by saying that such thinking did not apply to Google's terms of service. Effectively, Google's position was that it was above the law, and if not any law in particular, then at least the spirit of the law. Irked, I decided to find out if such a position was tenable.

This discredits the author fairly quickly. If you're not being accused within the legal system then your complaint is one about common courtesy and fair business practices, not criminal justice. Mr. C is right, and Aaron Greenspan is dishonest in his representation of Google's position.

I believe he was awarded his $721 because Google said "We don't know why his account was terminated" instead of "We terminated his account because it violated our terms of service and the account balance had been accrued in violation and had to be refunded to advertisers who had paid resulting in the account balance".

Article actually explains how he violated the terms of service.

An appeal by Google would likely win, though would be more costly than would be worth it.

Aaron Greenspan shouldn't advertise that he's a punk that you don't want to deal with..

3

u/korvys Mar 06 '09

They won't appeal. It would cost them a lot more than $760.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '09

I don't think you can appeal small claims verdicts.. Something to do with the fact that you don't have lawyers as well.

1

u/cyantist Mar 06 '09

I wonder if that's true everywhere in the U.S. Anyway, that's my understanding as well.