A recent ruling by the European Union Court of Justice (ECJ) ordered Google to remove old web search results that could possibly have a negative impact on a person’s reputation. Often referred to as “the right to be forgotten,” individuals are able to request that “outdated or irrelevant” information about them be purged from the web, but what about non-living entities? Taking its cues from this controversial ruling, a Canadian court has ruled that Google must remove search results for a company’s rival — not only in Canada but around the world.

Equustek Solutions claims that one of its competitors copied its tech for a network device and sold it on over 300 websites. Google has agreed to voluntarily remove links from Google.ca, its search engine specifically for Canada, but the Supreme Court of British Columbia granted an injunction ordering the company to scrub results from all of its sites.

Google tried to contest the ruling and argued that Canadian law didn’t apply to the entire world, but the court countered, citing Canada’s “Law and Equity Act.” This extends the court’s authority to grant broader injunctions in cases where it’s “just or convenient that the order should be made.” According to court documents, Google has 14 days from the date of the ruling (June 27th) to remove the links.

(via Gigaom)

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