Piddling Frenchman must pay Google court costs

A French court ordered a man who was pictured answering a call of nature in his garden to pay legal costs to Google on Thursday for bringing a badly prepared case against the Internet giant. The man, who claimed he became a laughing stock after an image taken by a Google camera car of his al fresco urination was published globally on the Street View web app, now owes the firm's French subsidiary 1,200 euros ($1,570). A court in the northern town of Angers ruled that the plaintiff had lodged a lawsuit against the wrong firm -- the picture having been published by Google Inc., the US parent company, and not by its subsidiary Google France. Google agreed to take the picture down after the man complained, but refused a demand for 10,000 euros in damages. The plaintiff's lawyer was not immediately available to comment on any possible appeal.