Lawsuit claims Google stole idea for Sky layer in Earth

A former Google contractor is suing the company for allegedly stealing from him the idea for the Sky layer in Google Earth.

The lawsuit filed this week in federal district court in Atlanta seeks punitive damages of $25 million from Google.

Jonathan Cobb claims in his suit that he disclosed the idea for a Google Sky idea in internal e-mail discussion groups when he worked at Google as a contractor beginning in 2006.

The Google Earth Sky layer, when it launched in August 2007, was similar in interface and functionality to what he had conceptualized, Cobb claims.

Google representatives did not return e-mails seeking comment.

The case may not be as straightforward as it sounds, says one Internet law expert.

"These types of misappropriation claims are easy to make and hard to disprove," says Eric Goldman, an assistant professor at Santa Clara University School of Law. "It's not entirely clear that Cobb wins even if everything he says is true."

[coryschulz]

Contracts

When a person works for a company, especially like Google, they generally have to sign a contract saying that all of the code they write and all of the ideas they present to the company are inherently property of the the company and not the person. This is a claim that a lot of people make about ideas they have or code they wrote, but none of them ever win. 25 Million is a little bit much to ask. He's probably looking for a cheap settlement around 1 million or a little less. If he worked for Google, I'm sure he's not hurting for money anyways.

[Astinsan]

Is this function really worth that much?

Even if it is true how can this arbitrary amount be set. Then there is the part about being a subcontracted employee. How can he/she say its his if he/she was working there at the time? Even Steve Woz went to HP to give up his idea of a home computer prototype.

[tremorfireheart]

well.

for one in these kind of cases the damages are enriched to a state so that such a large company will acutally feel the sting.

two he was a contractor, not an employee. meaning he was not part of the company and thus google does not have any rights to anything outside the scope of the part of the project for which that contractors team is responsible for. Now it was bad form on his part to mention something like that with out a contract of some kind in place, but thats the way the ball bounces. Heck if someone takes some of my random ideas and makes a product out of it I would at least like a foot note or something too yah know?

[e-mail]

[Rants&Raves]

Why was he discussing it in the first place ?

If I read the article correctly, this contractor used internal Google discussion lists while working at Google; why was he doing that in the first place if he didn't want the idea taken ? Ideas hold no value; implementation matters.

[wwuser]

Stars and atmosperic halo in WorldWind

Stars layer was added to WorldWind in Nov 2005 http://www.worldwindcentral.com/wiki/Add-on:Stars
Atmospheric halo was added to WorldWind in Feb 2006 http://www.worldwindcentral.com/wiki/Add-on:Atmospheric_halo

[nameIess]

gmail security bug!

For the past ten hours i've been trying to access my email.. instead, i keep logging into some strangers email accounts! This is my personal laptop no one has ever used it. i'm connected directly to my isp not on network. i've contacted google and haven't got any reply from them except for one saying i should clear my cahce! the problem is still going on, i'm unable to access my email to do my work. i've came across so many personal and private data of other people while trying to access my email including keycodes for some embassy gate in addition to usernames, passwords, and other personal stuff. and most likely, other strangers are taking a look at my own personal stuff as i type this.

i've been logged in to over 30 accounts so far. i took about 25 screen shots as a proof. that was still not enough proof for google support to reply!

[GeoJason]

Pretty common idea...

Sean Askay suggested this in a conversation with Rebecca Moore early in 2006, back before he joined the Google Earth Outreach program:

http://newdms.jamesreserve.edu/sean_askay/kml/Suggestions

And I'm sure that others have made similar suggestions if you look back far enough in the Keyhole BBS.

[francispotter]

I hope he doesn't get anything

Honestly, you go to work for a technology company. They are paying you money. One of the things they are paying you for is to participate in discussions and generate ideas. If you have a $25 million idea that nobody else is going to think of, then don't blab about it. Form a startup.

[Astinsan]

ditto that... same goes for the patent squatters

Why should an idea be the same as the finished product. A Idea is just that. I bet everyone has had an idea of a great product to then see it on tv or in a magazine later on.

[mikeburek]

Read the story

Um, if you read the story, you see that the guy was a contractor, not an employee. People seem to keep missing this and assuming he was employed directly with Google.

[grey_eminence]

In the Valley of the Thieves also

know as Silicon Valley stealing, lieing,
cheating, ripping off, destroying reputations is
expected and encouraged by companies in SF Bay
Area. Biz as normal.

My recommendation is next time keep your mouth
shut, dont do business in the valley or atleast
file a patent application.

Tough nuggies !

[gprice100]

Other Sources

Even before Google Sky officially debuted in August, Sky-Map.org was offering a large amount of the same data WITHOUT having to download or use a special app. They also offer an API. See the bottom of this post.
http://www.resourceshelf.com/2007/08/22/nyt-on-new-google-service-sad-to-say-no-mention-of-similar-service-from-nasa/

The same data is also available at Wiki-Sky. This service was featured in a May, 2007 New Scientist post.
http://www.newscientist.com/blog/space/2007/03/wikisky-brings-sky-gazing-to-online.html

Finally, lots of great stuff and layers available for several planets and space in general via
http://www.worldwindcentral.com, a NASA open-source 3D image viewer.

[brundlefly76]

LOL How long has this guy been working in Silicon Valley?

This is completely laughable.Its like the most naive assertion I have ever heard.

There are so many reasons why his claims are fruitless:

1. He was being PAID for his CONSULTATION.DUH!
2. His idea was likely unsolicited.
3. He neither patented his idea nor had prior art.
4. He had likely taken no active steps of launching a 'Google Earth'-like service of his own with the Sky feature, or peddled the idea competitively.
5. His Google contract probably sealed up this potentiality airtight.
6. He certainly didn't disclose it under NDA.

Finally, there is no way in hell Google would even entertain an audience of a company which wished to propose a 'feature request' to a Google product under NDA without a non-NDA generalization of what it was - in fact when I interviewed with Google (didn't get the job), I know I signed a paper which addressed this specifically (e.g. "dont tell us anything you don't want us to know".

So, this guy needs to take his ball and go home.