Google sued by Korean Website

Humor University, a local Korean website offering funny articles to its readers, filed a suit against Google's Korean unit because of unpaid Google AdSense claims. Lee Jung Min - President, Humor University - stated,

Google didn't pay AdSense commissions amounting to 20 million won ($21,300) to us in late 2005 while alleging we had committed click frauds.

Should we win the envisioned lawsuit, the costs will be larger than 20 million won. The litigation is not about money, but about our self-esteem.

We want to let the world know we didn't do anything wrong as well as making Google recognize that they should respect even small-sized companies like us.

Humor University filed the complaint with Korea's FTC in February 2006. FTC stated,

Some parts of the clauses presented by Google AdSense are in violation of Korean law. Google was advised to revise or delete the clauses within 60 days. Google expressed its intentions to do so

Humor University started running Google's Adsense ads for 3 months in late 2005 but never got paid because of alleged click fraud. Humor University said Google has not provided any supporting evidence.

Tokyo, the Golden Oil Field

Do you know that used cooking oil can mean big business? Sumeya Yumi who used to collect used cooking oil from households is now the president of U's Corporation. Together with her father, they developed the world's first bio-diesel fuel known as VDF. Now, her company produces bio-diesel fuel from the large quantity of used cooking oil being disposed by Japan yearly.

Sumeya Yumi did not only discover a very good business. Disposing used cooking oil can seriously damaged the environment. With the development of bio-diesel fuel known as VDF, she is also helping in the protection of the environment.

According to Sumeya, merits of VDF include the following

• VDF in diesel vehicles reduces emission of black smoke to less than half that of generated diesel oil.
• Absence of sulfur oxides during emission which can cause acide rain
• While processing, glycerin can also be produced when can be used as a material for soap when refined.
• When hybrid diesel cars become popular, the age of fuel economy will enter averaging 100 to 150 km per liter.
• Since VDF is sourced from agricultural products, countries that can produce the said raw materials can play an important role in the future taking the place of oil-producing companies.

With this new energy revolution, Sumeya's vision of "Tokyo, the Golden Oil Field" is not far from reality. If every country can use this technology and vehicle manufacturers join together to mass produce bio-diesel vehicles, it may lessen our dependence to oil and help protect our environment from greater damage.

Source: The Japan Journal, April 2007

Blogging, Business and Technology - The Start

A blog on blogging, business, buzz and technology - both local and international.