Google & Yahoo Stole Names From Tanzanian Tribes?

In what seems more like a story intended for The Onion, Techdirt has reported today that a lawsuit has been filed against both Google and Yahoo!, claiming that both companies stole their names from tribes in Tanzania.

Google is claimed to have been taken from the Gogo tribe and Yahoo! from the Yao tribe.

To make matters even more complicating, the man who has filed the lawsuit claims to be a descendant of both tribes and wants Google and Yahoo to pay up. The thing is, he is currently being detained by Immigration services in Houston on unknown charges, which makes this sound more like a scam in progress.

So, what kind of monetary compensation is this man seeking? $10,000 from each company to every member of both tribes, going back three generations! I am not sure how large these tribes are, but three generations of people (many of whom must be deceased) is sure to add up to a lot of cash, and I would not be so sure that the man who filed the lawsuit is sure of how many member there are, or how much he is asking for.

Google, as their corporate history page states, is a name that was chosen to represent a play on the word 'googol' which “reflects the company's mission to organize the immense, seemingly infinite amount of information available on the web.” No where in this information is Tanzania mentioned.

As for Yahoo!, their name is an acronym for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle, according to Yahoo! Media Relations. Founders David Filo and Jerry Yang “insist they selected the name because they liked the general definition of a yahoo: rude, unsophisticated, uncouth,” which also has absolutely nothing to do with a tribe from Tanzania.

It won't be long before we hear about this case being thrown out. Many people are starting to get out of hand with lawsuits, and this one is just about as frivolous as the completely handwritten lawsuit against Google. No wonder the courts of the United States are so backlogged.