Plagiarism, or as students like to call it, borrowing ideas; not only exists in schools but between firms as well. Here we have a case where Google, the multibillion corporation accuses Bing, a lesser but still relevant company providing internet search services, for copying results from Google’s search engine. In cases like this where two companies provide such similar services, it is hard to judge whether one is actually guilty of copyright infringement. It is important to remember that we should look at this issue from a neutral perspective, I myself immediately sided with Google when I first read the article due to Google’s likable image and popularity. As a multinational corporation, Google’s monopoly-like status is not easy to maintain, competitors such as Bing threaten Google’s operation. In response, Google is very likely to come up with strategies to undermine its competitors. As the editor has stated, it is not unlikely that Google has setup a situation where Bing appears to be copying Google’s search results. If that is the case, then Google should be the one to read up on business ethics.

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/feb2011/ca2011024_853469.htm