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The Punchline

When Google gets fined

Bob Moon Apr 16, 2012

And finally — speaking of Google — the Federal Communications Commission has been investigating the company’s use of surveillance vehicles for its Street View mapping service.

Google admitted the cars it sends out to take images of streets around the globe, were gathering more than pictures. They were also capturing Web-surfing data, passwords and even e-mails from personal wi-fi signals.

Now, the FCC says there isn’t enough evidence to go after Google for violating government regulations. But the agency is fining the online giant for deliberately impeding the federal investigation.

The fine? $25,000 — which is about 0.000008 percent of the $2.89 billion Google made in just the first three months of this year.

Put another way, 25,000 bucks is what Google makes roughly every minute of every day.

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