Getty Images擬在歐盟控告谷歌
Google faces a new threat in its rapidly expanding antitrust battle with the EU after Getty Images, a leading US photo agency, complained that the search company was unfairly undermining its business.
在與歐盟(EU)之間迅速升級的反壟斷大戰中，谷歌(Google)面臨着新的威脅，原因是領先的美國照片經銷商Getty Images投訴稱，谷歌以不公平的方式侵蝕其業務。
Getty said it would file a formal complaint in Brussels today, arguing that Google was trying to freeride on the business of photojournalism without generating content itself.
Getty表示，將於今天在布魯塞爾提交正式控告。該公司聲稱，谷歌試圖搭Getty攝影新聞業務的便車，而不是自己生成內容。
Specifically, Getty accused Google Images of harvesting its photographs in a way that siphoned traffic away from Getty’s paid-for website.
具體來說，Getty指控谷歌圖片(Google Images)“收割”Getty的照片，在此過程中還把流量從Getty的收費網站引走。
Margrethe Vestager, EU competition commissioner, has already issued two sets of charges against Google — accusing it of abusing its dominance of web search to promote its own shopping services, and of abusing dominance of its Android operating system to lock customers into using Google apps.
歐盟競爭事務專員瑪格麗特•維斯特格(Margrethe Vestager)已向谷歌發出兩波指控，稱谷歌濫用其在網頁搜索方面的霸主地位推銷其自身的購物服務，還指控谷歌濫用其Android操作系統的主導地位把客戶鎖定於使用谷歌應用。
The Getty complaint broaches a third area of concern known as “scraping” — where Google is accused of using content generated by rivals to promote its own services. Some of Google’s most vocal critics are travel websites, which have accused the tech group of culling their hotel and restaurant reviews and using them to bolster the quality of Google’s own online travel services.
Getty的控告揭開了第三個關切領域，稱爲“數據抓取”(scraping)。在這一領域，谷歌被指利用競爭對手生成的內容推介自己的服務。最響亮的一些批評聲音來自旅遊網站，它們指控谷歌抓取它們的酒店和餐館評論，用於提升自身在線旅遊服務的品質。
The complaint means the European Commission will have to form a view on whether it believes competition rules have been broken. Google declined to comment on the case but, more broadly, denies having broken any antitrust rules.
這一控告意味着，歐盟委員會(European Commission)將不得不對其是否認爲谷歌違反了競爭規則形成觀點。谷歌拒絕評論該案，但從整體層面上否認自己違反了任何反壟斷規則。
Under the previous commission, Brussels decided against proceeding with similar charges on scraping against Google. However, several lawyers opposing Google said they had received signals from the commission that it was becoming more receptive in light of other complaints and the fast-changing digital landscape.
在前一屆歐盟委員會任期內，對於針對谷歌的有關數據抓取的指控，歐盟曾決定不予受理。不過，幾位反對谷歌的律師表示，他們已接到歐盟委員會釋放的信號，稱鑑於其他控告和快速變化的數字世界格局，該委員會正變得更樂於受理這方面的控告。
Getty argues that Google abused it dominance of image searches to change “drastically” the way that it presented the agency’s photographs after January 2013, by displaying them in a high resolution and large format.
Getty聲稱，2013年1月以後，谷歌濫用其在圖像搜索方面的主導地位，“徹底”改變了展示Getty照片的方式，以高分辨率和大文件格式呈現這些圖像。
Yoko Miyashita, Getty’s general counsel, said this new display diverted customers away from her company’s website, where customers would pay for them.
Getty總法律顧問Yoko Miyashita表示，這種新的展示方式將客戶從Getty的網站引走。在該網站上，客戶原本會爲這些照片付費。
Getty said it had raised its concerns with Google three years ago but Google replied that Getty should accept its new presentation or opt out of image search, in effect becoming invisible on the web.
Getty表示，公司已在三年前向谷歌提出其擔憂，然而谷歌回覆稱Getty應該接受其新的圖片展示方式，否則可以選擇不參與圖片搜索——這實質上等於在互聯網上隱身。
