Sweden's language watchdog has accused Google of trying to control the Swedish language in a dispute over the definition of the colloquial term "ungoogleable".The Swedish version of the word — "ogooglebar" — made the Language Council of Sweden's 2012 list of words that aren't in the Swedish dictionary but have entered common parlance. The council defined it as something "that cannot be found on the web with a search engine".
But Google objected, asking for changes showing the expression specifically refers to Google searches and a disclaimer saying Google is a registered trademark, the council said on Tuesday.
Rather than changing the definition, the council deleted the word from the list, while stressing "our displeasure with Google's attempts to control the language".
"Google has referred to legislation that protects trademarks and wants the Language Council to change the wording of the definition, introducing the name Google into the definition, and adding a disclaimer where we point out that Google is a trademark," the Language Council's head Ann Cederberg said.
"We have neither the time nor the desire to engage in the long, drawn-out process Google is trying to initiate. Neither do we want to compromise and change the definition of 'ogooglebar' to the one the company wants," she said.
"That would go against our principles, and the principles of language. Google has forgotten one thing: language development doesn't care about the protection of trademarks," she added.
"Today we are instead removing the word" from the list, she said.
Google refrained from commenting on the matter directly.
"While Google, like many businesses, takes routine steps to protect our trademarks, we are pleased that users connect the Google name with great search results," Google spokesman Gustaf Brusewitz said in an email.
The Language Council, which is under the authority of the Swedish culture ministry, does not determine which new words are officially accepted into the Swedish language - that is the role of the Swedish Academy. Instead, the council merely notes which new words are gaining popularity among Swedes.
smh.com.au 27 Mar 2013
An example of how corporations if they do not have control over governments, use heavy handed techniques to do so.
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