What do you think of this lawsuit against Google?

wow. what?

*shakes head*

these people must be trying to look for a quick way to get money or something.

sad. they're going to lose it.

i mean now what, are they going to sue NASA for all the photographs they've taken of the earth and neighborhoods and stuff.

really, google did nothing wrong or anything to cause "mental distress"

I completely understand the invasion of privacy. I wouldn't want pictures of my house up for millions to see without my permission. As for the mental distress, I'm not too sure about that. If they are worried that robbers will find easier ways to break in, then I understand, but it shouldn't cause enough distress to sue over. I think they have a pretty good chance of winning just because of the invasion of privacy. They did put out signs that said "Private Property" and Google did trespass. Don't you have to have a release form to use pictures of private property?

I'm not sure if they should win that much, but we all should get something. Do we have to wait for someone to get hurt before they see that it's not right. This is wonderful for the criminals, stalkers, and pedophiles. They can go online, see your house, front door, windows, driveway, bushes - then they can figure out the best escape route without ever leaving their house. It would be a great thing if there weren't so so many criminal minded people out there.

I'd probably be sympathetic to stuff like this if they didn't throw in the metal distress crap. That's usually a red flag for frivolous lawsuits nowadays. They may have a case for not including it since the road is not public it's private but suing for mental distress?! Umm... This is why the US government is a joke it has no integrity.

It doesn't look like they have a chance at wining. The only law possibly broken was trespassing and Google hasn't been charged or convicted of breaking that law. A road sign indicating private road doesn't mean anything more than what the government agency placing the sign wants it to. In most cases, it means the road is privately maintained and there is public right-of-way on the road. I would bet that is the case here since criminal charges aren't mentioned. The court can't rule in their favor without opening the possibility of everyone suing the County Assessments office for publishing photos online.

No law broken, no right to privacy in public view = no money to put a cover over that pool.

I can't make a judgement on that without looking into their hearts to see if it has really caused them distress or they are just after a quick buck.

I don't feel a person's image or image of their property should be used in advertising without a signed release though.

I personally am sympathetic to them. The fact is that Google DID do what they are accusing them of doing.

I used to dismiss lawsuits as bs when they asked for things like 'pain and suffering'. Then I got in a rather serious car wreck that left me without feeling in parts of my body, and I realised that 'pain and suffering' and 'distress' claims are very real, and deserved in a lot of cases. Maybe not as much as is asked for half the time, but...

yea, there definitely just looking for some cash. I've been hearing these kinds of lawsuits a lot lately, personally if google took a pic of my house for their website i wouldn't care something of my own is being used in a professional website!!

They're pansies. Mental distress? Some people get mugged, raped, ran over, assaulted... but somehow, having a pic of your house on Google causes mental distress to some. Maybe they need to experience a real problem.

If it was me and I was actually bothered by having my house posted, I'd just contact Google and ask them to please take it down. I'm pretty sure they would oblige.

That's just abuse of the judicial system, in my opinion.

Ah, it is the American way. Sue, sue, sue.

Good luck getting a judge to listen to the claim.

How will their attorney take 1/3 of a swift kick in the ***?